After Grant Scott-Goforth's parting shot last week debunking the racist connotations of the word "marijuana," it seemed only fitting to follow up with another column blatantly pandering to the etymology nerds in our readership. We were initially intrigued by the word "bong," which, according to an online etymology dictionary, comes from the Thai word "baung," meaning "cylindrical wooden tube," and came to the United States along with returning Vietnam War veterans. As we dug deeper into the words that surround cannabis connoisseurship, a pattern developed. [continues 680 words]
Terminal Illness Also Covered Under Bill for Rauner Advocates for medical marijuana hope Illinois' plan to expand its program will give the industry the boost it needs to sustain itself - but some doctors warn that, despite changes made to protect them, they still have legal and medical concerns about the product. After previously rejecting efforts to make medical marijuana available to more people, Gov. Bruce Rauner's office has indicated he will sign into law a bill to lengthen the pilot program by more than two years, to July 1, 2020. The legislation also adds two new qualifying conditions: post-traumatic stress disorder and terminal illness. [continues 1162 words]
When the subject of legalizing marijuana comes up, there seems to be plenty of mixed emotions, clashing of opinion and even ambivalence of tolerance in our society. We generally disdain excessive use of alcohol and nicotine as anodynes - painkilling drugs or medicines - but a rigid line is drawn between hedonistic marijuana use and an almost Calvinistic condemnation of the drug. Currently, we understand that 25 states, including Ohio, allow the use of marijuana for the relief of chronic pain, and just four states for "recreational" escape. [continues 129 words]
Veterans recently joined a tour of a local dispensary and testing lab to tell their stories of how medical marijuana has improved their lives since they left the military. The tour was hosted by the Las Vegas Medical Marijuana Association, which was formed to promote the medical marijuana industry in Nevada. The association recognizes the use of cannabis to treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments. "Marijuana changed my whole life," said Cristina Alfonso-Zea, an Army veteran who uses medical marijuana to treat PTSD. "From the time I left the military, I attempted suicide every year." [continues 348 words]
Data Show Fewer Are Seeking The Drugs In Recent Years, While Prescriptions For Medical Marijuana Have Skyrocketed Fewer Canadian veterans have sought prescription opioids and tranquilizers in recent years, while at the same time prescriptions for medical marijuana have skyrocketed. It is not clear whether the two are related, but the trend echoes what researchers have found in U.S. states with medical-cannabis laws. New data provided to The Globe and Mail by Veterans Affairs Canada show that over the past four years, the number of veterans prescribed benzodiazepines - with brands such as Xanax, Ativan and Valium - had decreased nearly 30 per cent. Opioid prescriptions also shrank almost 17 per cent during that same period. [continues 797 words]
Someday you or someone you love may need safe, legal access to medical marijuana. You, or they, may have cancer, epilepsy, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, or Crohn's disease, Parkinson's, breast cancer, a recent heart attack, or may be a veteran or emergency worker with post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2004, 64 percent of Montana voters passed a law creating a medical marijuana program, but access for patients seeking relief will soon disappear because of political nonsense in the 2011 Legislature. With these draconian, nonsensical laws, you and your loved ones aren't going to get what you need for pain, symptom relief or a cure. [continues 661 words]
For months, Illinois' fledgling medical cannabis industry had been limping along - dogged by uncertainties over its future and hurt by disappointingly low numbers of patients whose medical conditions qualified them for state certification cards. But in the last few days, the clouds of gloom have lifted thanks to a compromise bill now awaiting Gov. Bruce Rauner's signature. The measure would extend the state medical cannabis pilot program by 2 1/2 years, to July 1, 2020. It would also expand the list of qualifying conditions, to include post-traumatic stress disorder and terminal illnesses, potentially adding hundreds of thousands of new patients to the state registry. [continues 830 words]
Gloucester has taken a step toward joining the list of Massachusetts communities to host a medical marijuana facility. Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken's office agreed not to oppose plans by Happy Valley Ventures of Newton to open a medical marijuana dispensary and cultivation facility at the Blackburn Industrial Park. Department of Public Health regulations require a letter of support or nonopposition as part of the state application process. "Our community is in a unique position to offer meaningful medical solutions to those in critical need, while potentially helping to expand new economic avenues," Theken said. "Any agreement with the city of Gloucester must ensure legal, safe, and secure use of medical marijuana for approved patients, but any opportunity to help provide relief to our elderly, our veterans, our sick and dying, will always be heard." [continues 290 words]
I am dumbfounded at the results of the recent medicinal marijuana review. These politicians should witness first hand-the way this drug can ease the pain and suffering of sick people. Whose many uses, only now the drug has been legalised in Colorado, can finally be studied. The list is seemingly endless. From seizures to skin cancer. No wonder the pharmaceutical companies are scared. To use this natural herb for relief is only possible with political intervention, but addictive opiates and other heavy drugs, which often need further drugs to counteract the effects of the first, can be easily prescribed. In the US, veterans are committing suicide, often on the opiates they are prescribed which arrive without any counselling. Parents have to move country or state to relieve the suffering of their children or loved ones. Where is the reasoning? It has been used medicinally cross-culturally for 5000 years. How much more pain and suffering do people have to endure? How long would you wait if it was your loved one? Sian Jones Takaka, June 2 [end]
Someday you or someone you love may need safe, legal access to medical marijuana. You, or they, may have cancer, epilepsy, IBS, colitis, or Crohn's disease, Parkinson's, breast cancer, a recent heart attack, or may be a veteran or emergency worker with PTSD. In 2004, 64 percent of Montana voters passed a law creating a medical marijuana program. But access for patients seeking relief will soon disappear because of political nonsense in the 2011 Legislature. With these draconian, nonsensical laws, you and your loved ones aren't going to get what you need for pain, symptom relief, or a cure. [continues 688 words]
Third time was the charm for Congress to pass legislation to let Veterans Administration doctors discuss medical marijuana with patients in states where it's legal (like this one!). From a 195-222 failed House vote in 2014 to a narrower 210-213 loss in 2015, this month the House shifted to a 233-189 approval - reflecting the transformation in public opinion over those years. Among the "no" votes that failed to stop the action, co-authored by Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, was Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs. Lamborn, who represents this veteran-laden district and sits on the House Veteran Affairs Committee, has long decried the shortcomings of what he terms "Obama's VA department." Many local vets are as familiar with those shortcomings - the bureaucratic bottlenecking of much-needed care - as they are with elected leaders' failure to effect meaningful reform. And that frustration has fueled the fight for expanded access to medical marijuana to treat the wounds of war, as detailed in the Indy's April 20 cover story "Aim to Heal." [continues 596 words]
SALT LAKE CITY - Medical marijuana advocates, stymied in their recent efforts to legalize medical cannabis in Utah, are taking the fight to the nation's capital. They are calling on Utah's congressional delegation to support a bill that would downgrade marijuana from a schedule I controlled substance to a schedule II substance - something that state legislators urged Congress to do in a resolution sponsored by state Sen. Brian Shiozawa, R-Salt Lake City. That would open the way for more research on the substance, something both advocates and those concerned about the potential harmful impacts of marijuana support. [continues 1056 words]
As a former member of the U.S. Navy, I've seen the pain that lingers after our men and women in uniform return home. It's our country's responsibility to provide veterans with any medical treatment that has proven to be effective. More and more states are recognizing the overwhelming data about medical cannabis. With 24 states and the District of Columbia now operating medical cannabis programs, many Americans now have a viable alternative to opioid pain medication. In the current state of addiction and overdose in our country - a tragedy our state knows too well, as more than 1,000 New Yorkers die a year from opioid-related deaths - we should welcome any alternative with open arms. This situation is even more dire for veterans, as the opioid overdose rate for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs patients is almost double the national average. [continues 359 words]
In New Jersey, voters and lawmakers gave judges more power to release low-risk defendants who can't afford bail, letting them go home rather than sit in jail while they await trial. In Idaho, a new law created 24-hour crisis centers to help keep people with mental health issues from being locked up unnecessarily. Georgia and Louisiana established courts for military veterans accused of crimes. Hawaii funded programs to help reunify children with parents who are behind bars. These are just a few of the hundreds of criminal-justice reforms that states around the country have put in place over the last two years, according to a new report by the Vera Institute of Justice. [continues 418 words]
They had bag loads of marijuana lollipops, cannabis-infused chocolate - - and lots of confiscated weed - from pot shops. But what they didn't have were weapons: Guns, knives, swords and brass knuckles. Those are reserved for the other kind of dope dealer - ones in alleys who don't pay rent. "(Toronto Mayor) John Tory knows perfectly well that shutting these dispensaries down will force countless medical marijuana users, many of them veterans, back into the arms of dealers," said Russell Barth, known as the Angriest Pothead in Canada. "I am so glad, as, must be, the taxpayers, to know that all the other crimes in the Greater Toronto Area have been solved. The mayor and chief of police should resign immediately." [continues 719 words]
Coalition Calls For City To Halt Pot Dispensary Crackdown A broad coalition of medical marijuana supporters called on the City of Toronto to halt a crackdown on dispensaries, calling the move a waste of money and a "make work" project for police. Just before the organizers of the press conference stepped in front of a podium at City Hall Thursday, they learned of the sweeping raids taking place across Toronto. The group, which included a pain doctor, lawyer for dispensaries, patients and the Toronto Taxpayers Coalition, condemned the move. [continues 363 words]
A doctor is upset after the Veterans Affairs hospital in Phoenix blocked her from giving a lecture about marijuana's effect on veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Sue Sisley has been conducting a study on PTSD and medical marijuana this summer. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved her work, the Phoenix VA Medical Center told Sisley she couldn't give a presentation there. "The notion that the Phoenix VA hospital refuses to allow that information to be shared with their medical staff is really shameful," Sisley told KTAR-FM (92.3). [continues 155 words]
For more than a year, U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Costa Mesa, says he took two ibuprofen nightly to deal with severe arthritis. Four hours later - restless, in pain - he would wake and take more medicine. Then, during a speaking stop at a San Bernardino marijuana festival and trade show, he discovered a cannabis-infused wax that is supposed to relieve pain. The Republican congressman said he decided two weeks ago to skip the ibuprofen and give it a try. The topical treatment didn't make him high, he said. But it eased his pain. [continues 717 words]
When the MILegalize petitions proposing the legalization of recreational marijuana in Michigan hit the streets last summer I signed the first one that came my way. That was sometime in July. Now my signature probably won't count. That's the big issue facing the folks who organized the legalization effort right now: whether or not petition initiative signatures collected outside of a 180-day window are valid. And it doesn't look good. The most immediate answer to that question will be rendered by Gov. Rick Snyder when he decides to sign, or not sign, S.B. 776, the recent legislation that sets a hard 180-day window for collecting signatures on a petition initiative. [continues 1181 words]
They studied the state's mental illness and drug abuse problems for 10 months and came up with 32 pages of recommendations. The important part can be summed up in four words: more treatment, less jail. What the 24 members of the Governor's Task Force on Mental Health and Substance Abuse found is the wisdom they could have gleaned - and probably did - from any jailer: At least 80 percent of the people behind bars got there through some combination of substance abuse and mental illness. Early intervention and treatment could halt a lot of criminal careers. [continues 326 words]
DENVER - Congress is showing an increased willingness to let VA doctors talk to veterans about medical marijuana in states where it's legal, although final approval is far from certain. The House approved a measure last week that would let Veterans Affairs Department doctors help their patients sign up for state medical marijuana programs, something the VA now prohibits. "I'm certainly open to it," Rep. Mike Coffman, a Republican and former Marine from pot-friendly Colorado, said Friday. A Senate committee approved a similar measure last month but the full Senate hasn't voted. [continues 248 words]
WASHINGTON - The U.S. House voted to allow Department of Veterans Affairs doctors to recommend medical marijuana to their patients in states where it's legal, marking the strongest sign yet that attitudes in Congress toward the drug are shifting along with public sentiment. The House took several other emotional votes Thursday, including approving an amendment that would ban the display of the Confederate battle flag in veterans' cemeteries and, in a particularly raucous moment, narrowly defeating another that aimed to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination in federal contracting. [continues 841 words]
A Cottonwood man who says he grows medical marijuana on his property for disabled and ailing veterans under his Medicine for Our Military program pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Shasta County Superior Court to illegal marijuana cultivation and other charges. Donald James "Blue" Mobley, 44, was arraigned on four felonies and one misdemeanor count. He also saw his bail reduced by retired Superior Court Judge Anthony Anderson to $85,000 from $110,000, Mobley, a medical marijuana advocate known for sheltering veterans on his land, was arrested Friday after a search of his Two Feathers Road property by Shasta County sheriff's deputies and California Fish and Wildlife marijuana enforcement agents. [continues 486 words]
The tomato seedlings in the urban garden were sprouting. The basketball court was filled with men in blue, gray, and brown uniforms shooting hoops and doing pushups. Inside, at vocational classes, men learned the art of tailoring a suit while a group of women studied toward their GEDs. In many ways, the South Bay House of Correction has become a microcosm of the country's evolving attitudes toward drug abuse and drug-related crimes. The facility just off Interstate 93 in Boston is a different place compared with the early 1990s, when leaders in Washington passed a stringent crime bill that authorized stiff penalties for drug crimes and nearly doubled the country's prison population. [continues 1055 words]
Health Officials Are Looking into the Practice of Some Former-Soldiers' Groups Getting Kickbacks From Medical-Marijuana Producers The recent explosion in the number of veterans being reimbursed for medical marijuana, flagged by the Auditor-General in a critical report, is being fuelled by groups in the Atlantic provinces connecting former soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder with licensed growers hungry for patients. The practice has raised flags at Health Canada, where officials have looked into efforts by some veterans groups to leverage kickbacks from medical producers in exchange for providing them with patients. [continues 673 words]
Tory Wants to Turn Back Clock: Pot Boosters When it came to rapidly expanding Uber, Mayor John Tory was certainly opposed to standing in the way of the changing reality. "The notion that we think somehow we're going to turn back the hands of time in Toronto, Canada, I mean this is not sensible," Tory said, much to the chagrin of the taxi industry. But on the rapidly expanding marijuana dispensary business, bud boosters are accusing Tory of wanting to turn back the clock. [continues 515 words]
The number of former soldiers using medicinal marijuana has skyrocketed. Veterans Affairs Canada isn't doing a good job of monitoring this and hasn't figured out how much it's willing to pay for medical pot. Its hazy thinking has earned a rebuke from Auditor General Michael Ferguson. For a government committed both to bettering the lives of veterans, and loosening drug laws, Ferguson's report was embarrassing, even if some blame belongs to the last government. But Justin Trudeau has promised a bill to legalize marijuana within the year for all adults - not just those who want it for medical reasons - and he is determined to do better for former military members than did the Stephen Harper Conservatives. So how will the Liberals proceed? [continues 366 words]
There are discrepancies about safe dosages, its use in treating PTSD Auditor general Michael Ferguson has raised important questions about the increasing use of medical marijuana by Canadian military veterans. As authorities contemplate enforcement actions and zoning bylaws relevant to marijuana dispensaries, and the federal Liberal government prepares for legalization in 2017, Ferguson is urging the Department of Veterans Affairs to address the amount of medical cannabis being prescribed to veterans. He found the quantity prescribed was "poorly documented" and not always evidence-based. [continues 433 words]
OTTAWA - A veterans group says auditor general Michael Ferguson's latest report clouds the most important issue when it comes to the increasing use of medical marijuana to treat injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Clayton Goodwin, of the Veterans Accountability Commission, one of a growing number of grassroots organizations, says last week's audit focused too narrowly on the rising cost of the program and not on the health benefits of switching from pharmaceuticals to medicinal pot. He claims there are cost-savings associated with dropping prescription drugs, and would have preferred to see the report analyze that aspect. [continues 103 words]
The First Annual Cannabis Country Fair will be Friday, July 8 and Saturday, July 9 at the historic Black Oak Ranch in Laytonvillle. The premiere event, produced by the Mendo Grow Show is slated to offer guests a "down to earth" country fair atmosphere. The event will feature workshops and presentations focused upon education, medical cannabis farming and the cannabis industry, featuring topics focused upon sustainability, safety and ethics. Presentations will feature a mix of county and state government officials, local and national cannabis activists and top industry experts speaking on a variety of topics including non-combustible concentrate production, laboratory testing, cannabis law, canna-business and much more. [continues 225 words]
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Proponents of initiatives aimed at sales taxes, cigarette taxes and medical marijuana submitted petitions Sunday in hopes of getting their proposals on the November ballot in Missouri. The petitions submitted Sunday involved two proposed constitutional amendments, one that would prohibit state and local governments from charging sales tax on any services that weren't taxed as of 2015, and another that would allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes. A third ballot initiative would phase in a 23-cent-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax from 2017 to 2021. [continues 495 words]
What if LSD could treat PTSD, or magic mushrooms could help you quit smoking? Overseas research is advanced, but trials of psychedelic drugs can't get approval in Australia. Are we missing out on cures? Konrad Marshall reports. When Martin Williams' research plan was first rejected by an ethics committee in 2012, he understood why. The medicinal chemistry researcher could see some valid sticking points. For one, the psychiatrist attached to his detailed protocol didn't quite have the requisite clinical trials experience. [continues 2533 words]
The Ohio House could make history Tuesday by approving legislation to legalize medical marijuana. While state lawmakers have considered marijuana legislation in the past, no proposal has ever made it out of committee and to the full House for a vote. House Bill 523 was approved by a special committee Thursday faster than you can say "tetrahydrocannabinol," the chemical in marijuana that produces the "high" when smoking or ingesting it. It also provides pain relief, soothes seizures and increases appetite. There were two minor amendments and no discussion. [continues 539 words]
FAIRBANKS - When Megan and Marcus Mooers started thinking about opening a private marijuana club, they knew they wanted the name to have the initials THC. THC is short for tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana. "We kind of spitballed for names until we found one that worked," Megan Mooers said. "It had to be something clever, something we could brand." They came up with The Higher Calling, opened their doors in November and attracted hundreds of members. But five months later, Fairbanks' first marijuana business closed because it lacked enough dues-paying members to continue. Now, under local law, marijuana clubs in the Fairbanks North Star Borough are illegal. [continues 1106 words]
I would like to take this opportunity to discuss a grave injustice that is being done here in Montana. All patients that are receiving opiates in Montana will have the prescription voided and not allowed to have any pain drugs from now on. What would normal working class people do if that really happened? This is happening to people here in Montana that depend upon medical pot and have since the law came about. Thousands of patients are abandoned by the new changes to this law. I'm a disabled Vietnam veteran with severe PTSD who has been taking medical pot two years and for the first time in many years, have been able to sleep. [continues 129 words]
Cannabis Helps with PTSD, and So Can You I'M A BIG SUPPORTER of allowing armed forces veterans access to cannabis-seeing as how I'm a huge wussy who wouldn't have made it through three hours of basic training, much less full-on combat. I have enough trouble fighting off a cold. Recently it seems hell may have frozen over, as the Drug Enforcement Administration has authorized a study to see how the use of smoking cannabis can treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It's the first clinical study on PTSD to use cannabis in its raw, smokeable form. [continues 592 words]
Ohioans could not legally smoke medical marijuana under a revamped proposal being rolled out today by state legislators. Those with a prescription for medical marijuana would be allowed to use vaporization or other inhalant devices. But the new restriction in the legislation, targeted for a House vote Tuesday, probably sets up a public battle with supporters of proposed November ballot issues that would allow smoking. Rep. Kirk Schuring of Canton, who was set to brief his fellow GOP House members Tuesday night on the revised measure, said he hopes the special committee he chairs approves the new plan Thursday after seeing it for the first time today. After House passage, Schuring said, he is optimistic the Senate and Kasich administration will quickly approve Ohio becoming the 25th state to legalize medical marijuana. [continues 263 words]
One delivery service offers gluten-free marijuana brownies. Another promises a free marijuana-laced lollipop with each order. A third touts trained "caregivers" and delivery until 4 a.m. These marijuana delivery services - the objects of an unsuccessful crackdown by Massachusetts health officials two years ago - were expected to fade away once the first state-sanctioned medical marijuana dispensaries opened last year. Instead, they have proliferated. More than two dozen of these Internet-based services are now openly advertising long menus of marijuana strains and edibles, plus prices and user reviews, the Globe found. [continues 966 words]
Auditor says program for ex-soldiers - expected to cost $25 million this year - is getting out of hand OTTAWA- The latest report from the federal auditor general urges Veterans Affairs to get a grip on its medical marijuana program for injured former soldiers, which is expected to cost taxpayers $25 million this year. Michael Ferguson says it's just one of the programs where the federal government has critical data available to it that's either not usable, not used or not acted upon at all. [continues 598 words]
Veterans, civilians and first responders seeking relief from the symptoms of post-traumatic stress and other ailments through cannabis will have a new option for help next week. Set to open Monday on Discovery Avenue in Kingston's east side, Marijuana for Trauma Inc.'s new Kingston branch is to be the company's largest in Ontario. The new office is to help people access marijuana through their health benefits programs and offer advice about how they can best use it to ease their illnesses. [continues 454 words]
The Industry Is Intensifying Its Battle Against Pesticide Rules. The Colorado marijuana industry is stepping up its fight against the state's efforts to regulate the application of pesticides on cannabis. After passing in the state House, a bill that would have codified Gov. John Hickenlooper's November executive order - telling state agencies that any marijuana grown with unapproved pesticides is a threat to public safety and should be removed from commerce and destroyed-died in a state Senate committee last week. [continues 632 words]
UPPER DARBY - The life of Bernadette Scarduzio wasn't always a struggle. As a young girl she was active, played sports, enjoyed freedoms that most neglect as liberating experiences - the ability to walk without support, the dexterity to open a can of soda, the strength to climb a set of stairs. At only 36 years old, due to a rare neurological disorder, she relies on a motorized chair for mobility and requires caretakers day and night to assist with otherwise uncomplicated tasks. Strenuous physical therapy multiple times a week is simply to stave off the rapid effects of muscle degeneration. [continues 2753 words]
Psychedelic drugs have made a resurgence as medications to treat illnesses from post-traumatic stress disorder to end-of-life anxiety, but researchers at the University of B.C. say the substances might also rein in domestic violence. The UBC Okanagan study, published last week in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, found that 42 per cent of imprisoned men in the U.S. who did not take psychedelic drugs after their release were arrested within six years for domestic battery, compared to 27 per cent for those who had taken drugs such as LSD, psilocybin - also known as magic mushrooms - and MDMA, which is known by the street name ecstasy. [continues 594 words]
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The growing number of patients who claim marijuana helped them drop their painkiller habit has intrigued lawmakers and emboldened advocates, who are pushing for cannabis as a treatment for the abuse of opioids and illegal narcotics like heroin, as well as an alternative to painkillers. It's a tempting sell in New England, hard hit by the painkiller and heroin crisis, with a problem: There is very little research showing marijuana works as a treatment for the addiction. [continues 808 words]
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The growing number of patients who claim marijuana helped them drop their painkiller habit has intrigued lawmakers and emboldened advocates, who are pushing for cannabis as a treatment for the abuse of opioids and illegal narcotics like heroin, as well as an alternative to painkillers. It's a tempting sell in New England, hard hit by the painkiller and heroin crisis, with a problem: There is very little research showing marijuana works as a treatment for the addiction. [continues 718 words]
H.R. 4378 Addresses the Need to Provide Treatment Facilities for Those Already Bound by Addiction. Education and Prevention Are Imperative in Fighting the Epidemic, but Don't Work by Themselves. the Economic Advantage of Treating Addicts Is Huge, When Factoring in Health Care and Judicial Costs. Since Nancy Reagan first spoke the familiar words "Just say no" in 1982, this country has been engaged in a war on drugs that to some seems unwinnable. There is currently a piece of legislation in Congress that takes a different approach to the matter. Rather than solely focusing on prevention of substance abuse, the Access to Substance Abuse Treatment Act of 2016 (H.R. 4378) addresses the overwhelming need to provide treatment facilities for those already bound by the chains of addiction to heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) and phencyclidine (PCP). [continues 466 words]
UPPER MERION - Gov. Tom Wolf, state Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17th Dist., and state Rep. Tim Briggs, D149th Dist., joined about a dozen advocates of the medical marijuana bill recently signed into law during a news conference in King of Prussia Tuesday to tout the new legislation and promise its swift implementation. The law, which passed with bipartisan support, will allow marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes in pill form and in oils that can be vaporized. The bill's signing makes Pennsylvania the 24th state to sanction a medical marijuana program. [continues 709 words]
Steve DeFino is remarkably mellow for a guy with shrapnel still lodged in his body and memories of war on his mind. At the Dab Lounge on Circle Drive near Palmer Park Boulevard, a light haze drifts above the booths, about half of which are occupied on this weekday afternoon. A few dogs roam around, as do some pool balls on the newish table. "A year ago I couldn't do this," DeFino says, sitting on a stool in the back of the place where the arcade machines' bleeps and bloops weave into a soundtrack of '90s R&B. [continues 1931 words]
Re: "Marijuana for Trauma opens" Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016 Improved access to medical marijuana for our soldiers so that they can deal with the trauma of combat, are you serious? Where is the valid and reliable research to support the benefits of medical marijuana for soldiers affected with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? There are numerous short-term studies out there stating that medical marijuana is safe for the treatment of PTSD and that there are no risk factors, but I strongly urge people to consider that this assumption is based off of low-quality scientific evidence. [continues 401 words]
Brian Coddington, 29, relapsed two weeks into another second chance last month. Chesterfield Sheriff Karl Leonard rejects criticism of the jail's drug programas being soft on crime. He was out on bond and in a recovery program, awaiting a court date in Chesterfield County on charges stemming from his heroin addiction. This time, for once, he knew exactly what to do. So on March 23 his mother drove him to the Chesterfield jail on Mimms Road, where he met his bail bondsman and turned himself over to the custody of Sheriff Karl Leonard. [continues 1115 words]
