The Youth Vote Helped Propel Barack Obama to the Presidency, but That Enthusiasm Has Declined Sharply, Writes Neal Peirce. One Issue Might Reignite Youthful Enthusiasm: Marijuana - Partly Its Medical Use, but Especially Americans' Right to Recreational Use Free of Potential Arrest. WASHINGTON - "Dance with the One that Brought You" is the title of a well-known song. But the Urban Dictionary offers a deeper meaning: "The principle that someone should pay proper fealty to those who have gone out of their way to look after them." [continues 711 words]
A new twist in a long-running debate within the transplant community: Should people whose use of drugs or alcohol may have contributed to liver problems be candidates for transplants? And if so, how long should they be clean before becoming eligible for a new organ? LOS ANGELES - Norman Smith, who has liver cancer, was placed on the transplant list at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center last year. But early this year, doctors removed him because he was using medical marijuana and failed to show up for a drug test. [continues 913 words]
MEXICO CITY - Latin American leaders have joined together to condemn the U.S. government for soaring drug violence in their countries, blaming the United States for the transnational cartels that have grown rich and powerful smuggling dope north and guns south. Alongside official declarations, Latin American governments have expressed growing disgust for U.S. drug consumers - both the addict and the weekend recreational user heedless of the misery and destruction stemming from their pleasures. "Our region is seriously threatened by organized crime, but there is very little responsibility taken by the drug-consuming countries," Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom said at a December meeting of Latin leaders in Caracas. Colom said the hemisphere was paying the price for drug consumption in the United States with "our blood, our fear and our human sacrifice." [continues 1047 words]
The importance of parental involvement in reducing adolescent drug use cannot be overstated. School-based extracurricular activities also have been shown to reduce drug use. They keep kids busy during the hours they're most likely to get into trouble. In order for drug prevention efforts to effectively reduce harm, they must be reality-based. The most popular drug and the one most closely associated with violent behavior is often overlooked by parents. That drug is alcohol, and it takes far more lives each year than all illegal drugs combined. Alcohol may be legal, but it's still the No. 1 drug problem. [continues 120 words]
Arnulfo Crispin In Grave Condition As Suspect, 19, Arrested A neighborhood park where a Lakeland police officer was shot and gravely wounded is known more for being a hang-out for drug dealers than a place where children clamor over the jungle gyms. 'Little kids got guns,' said Phillip Rogers, 22, who lives near the city-owned Crystal Grove Park, 'and they ain't afraid to use them.' A 10 p.m. Sunday call about suspicious activity in the park ended in tragedy for a popular police officer, who was left for dead. By the day's end, officer Arnulfo Crispin barely clung to life at Lakeland Regional Medical Center. [continues 1051 words]
IF you are ever on a jury in a marijuana case, I recommend that you vote "not guilty" - even if you think the defendant actually smoked pot, or sold it to another consenting adult. As a juror, you have this power under the Bill of Rights; if you exercise it, you become part of a proud tradition of American jurors who helped make our laws fairer. The information I have just provided - about a constitutional doctrine called "jury nullification" - is absolutely true. But if federal prosecutors in New York get their way, telling the truth to potential jurors could result in a six-month prison sentence. [continues 770 words]
Jury Deadlocks On Trespassing Charge FORT LAUDERDALE -- A Miramar police officer was found guilty on Monday of official misconduct, falsifying records and criminal mischief in connection with the search of a drug suspect's apartment in 2010. Officer Jean Paul Jacobi bowed his head as the verdicts against him were read late Monday afternoon. The jury deliberated more than four hours before announcing they reached a partial verdict, deadlocking on trespass charges against Jacobi and his co-defendant, Det. Jennifer Conger. Broward Circuit Judge Raag Singhal declared a mistrial on those charges. [continues 544 words]
Washington -- Once the glitterati's drug of choice, cocaine appears to have achieved the dubious status of a has-been drug, forcing drug cartels enriched from trafficking the white powder to find new markets and diversify their illicit products. Between 2006 and 2010, domestic cocaine use declined 37 percent, according to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health. That's no blip on the screen. Workplace drug tests proving positive for cocaine went down 65 percent in the same time frame, according to data provided to the government by a major testing firm, Quest Diagnostics Inc. [continues 453 words]
The Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, the oldest dispensary of its kind in the state, quietly shut down over the weekend, the victim of a federal crackdown. "They moved out of the premises just before 2 a.m. on Sunday morning," said Peter Goldstone, a Santa Rosa attorney who has represented the Alliance, and its operator, Lynnette Shaw, in an eviction proceeding that was brought by the Alliance's landlord. Shaw could not be reached for comment. The landlord, Farshid Ezazi of Orinda, initiated the eviction proceeding after Melinda Haag, the San Francisco-based U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, threatened to confiscate the building in which the Alliance operated at 6 School St. in Fairfax. The Fairfax dispensary is among dozens statewide that federal prosecutors say they have targeted due to the dispensaries' proximity to parks, schools and other facilities used by children. [continues 585 words]
Our biggest priority is to make sure that (New Mexico's medical marijuana) program runs efficiently and effectively and that the patients are served in a timely manner.=94 =AD Health Secretary Dr. Catherine Torres Efficiency and effectiveness are good reasons for the administration of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez to propose a new, self-supporting unit instead of the Department of Health to administer the state's medical marijuana program. But transparency about 25 state-sanctioned pot producers as well as the certifying physicians would be worthwhile goals as well. [continues 357 words]
RE "THE government's marijuana problem: Federal bureaucracy makes it hard for states to administer a proven pain-relief medicine" by Juliette Kayyem (Op-ed, Dec. 12): While there have been studies showing that marijuana can shrink cancerous tumors, medical marijuana is essentially a palliative drug. If a doctor recommends marijuana to a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy, and it helps the patient feel better, then it's working. In the end, medical marijuana is a quality-of-life decision that is best left to patients and their doctors. [continues 88 words]
Contrary to the conclusions stated as fact by Mr. Evans: Marijuana is not addictive. Studies by the Department of Transportation show that marijuana use does not cause more automobile accidents. Many people in treatment programs for marijuana are there because courts send them there as an alternative to incarceration; most judges know that people shouldn't be jailed for smoking pot. The vast majority of state medical marijuana laws were promulgated by legislatures, analyzed and affirmed by courts, and based on the advice of medical organizations representing the opinions of tens of thousands of physicians. [continues 68 words]
Scientists have long known that like many plants, marijuana has some medicinal properties. But that does not imply that to derive those medical benefits, the plant should be smoked in its raw form (we don't, after all, smoke opium to get the benefits of morphine). Nor does the potential medical value of marijuana mean that, as medicine, its fate should be left to the whims of the electorate. Unfortunately, rather than advocating better or quicker research protocols so that pharmacists can properly dispense marijuana-based medications with consistent dosing and in a safe delivery manner, many states have bypassed the approval process of modern medicine. The result has been widespread abuses. [continues 101 words]
The Writer Responds The responses focus on denying the dangers of marijuana use (that it is addictive and causes car crashes), personal anecdotes about marijuana as "medicine," and justifications for bypassing the approval process of the Food and Drug Administration. I point Mr. Anton to the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health showing that marijuana users have the highest rate of dependence of all those classified with illicit drug dependence. Higher potency marijuana is a major factor in the increasing number of Americans being treated for dependence. [continues 154 words]
I congratulate Mr. Evans for his incisive and insightful discussion of the medical marijuana issue. Our procedures for assuring safety and efficacy through Food and Drug Administration approval have been hijacked by marijuana advocates. They are driving a process of medicine by popular vote - a terrible precedent for consumer protection. If marijuana were named Substance X to disconnect it from all the emotions, its use would be associated with exposure to numerous impurities, significant addiction, psychotic episodes and dose instability. The medical community and the public would reject it out of hand. Lobbying by the marijuana culture has resulted in misguided and misinformed public acceptance. [continues 57 words]
Mr. Evans, who is not a doctor and doesn't specialize in any of the illnesses he cites, overextends his expertise when he advises me and other readers that medical marijuana does not help me and others like me. I have Parkinson's disease, and I have used marijuana on occasion to relieve the uncomfortable stiffness that I suffer from time to time. It works. Mr. Evans insists that "numerous safe and effective F.D.A.-approved medications are available for these conditions." He's right; I'm on several of them. But these drugs have unpleasant and, in one case, potentially debilitating side effects when used on a long-term basis. How easy it is for an anti-marijuana crusader to dismiss its medical benefits; how wrong he is to advocate denying me something that eases my suffering. New York, Dec. 14, 2011 [end]
Several years ago, I contracted a case of food poisoning. The frequent vomiting and diarrhea were unpleasant, but the feeling of nausea was the worst effect of all. In response, I smoked a few puffs of high-quality marijuana. The effects of the nausea disappeared after about 30 seconds. Here's a few assertions of my own: Marijuana is the fastest-acting and most effective anti-nausea agent available. Marijuana is no more addictive than milk, and the consumption of small quantities is no more toxic than milk. Novato, Calif., Dec. 14, 2011 [end]
Mr. Evans's call for the Food and Drug Administration to determine the safety and efficacy of cannabis may sound appealing, but it is politically unfeasible. That is because the cannabis plant is classified under federal law as a Schedule 1 prohibited substance - the most restrictive classification possible. Since the present law forbids any private manufacturers of cannabis-based products to exist, there remains no entity available to conduct the sort of research and development necessary to trigger an F.D.A. review. [continues 148 words]
I am sure that others will point out the many fallacies in Mr. Evans's letter as these have been the traditional myths used by medical marijuana opponents for years. When myths like these are circulated, it discredits the sincere effort many of us have been making to deal with the problem of substance abuse. Offering false arguments regarding marijuana tends to undermine all of us who are trying to reach out to young people. When I present them with real science, my words are dismissed as well. If we truly want to prevent substance abuse, honesty is the best policy. Boulder, Colo., Dec. 14, 2011 The writer is a lecturer in sociology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. [end]
The addictive properties of marijuana are no reason to denounce its use as an effective and safe medicine. Many of the "safe and effective FDA-approved" drugs are opioids, which studies have shown to be nearly twice as addictive as marijuana and carry additional risks such as extreme nausea, physical dependence and death from overdose. Furthermore, any claim that marijuana has no medicinal benefits is disingenuous. A recent federal petition by the governors of Washington State and Rhode Island to reclassify marijuana for medical use cited more than 700 peer-reviewed independent studies documenting the medical value of cannabis. [continues 99 words]
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