CALIFORNIA
UCSD study: Cannabis effective ?treatment for neuropathic pain
Cannabis is an effective medication for neuropathic pain related to HIV, reports a new study by UC San Diego researchers.??The study found that 46 percent of randomly selected HIV patients suffering pain from nervous-system damage reported significant pain relief after smoking cannabis, versus 18 percent of patients smoking a placebo. The study, sponsored by the University of California Center for Medical Cannabis Resarch based at UC San Diego, will be published in the journal
Neuropsychopharmacology.??“Neuropathy is a chronic and significant problem in HIV patients as there are few existing treatments that offer adequate pain management to sufferers,” says Dr. Ronald J. Ellis, associate professor of neurosciences at UCSD School of Medicine. “We found that smoked cannabis was generally well-tolerated and effective when added to the patient’s existing pain medication, resulting in increased pain relief.”
Rosenthal conviction upheld by appeals court
Celebrated cannabis advocate and author Ed Rosenthal’s 2007 federal conviction for growing cannabis has been upheld by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Rosenthal was originally convicted in 2003 of growing hundreds of plants and sentenced to one day in prison. After that conviction was overturned, Rosenthal was re-tried in 2007 and convicted again, with no additional jail time imposed. Rosenthal appealed on the grounds that critical information was excluded from the original trial. The Ninth Circuit court ruled in June that the excluded information was irrelevant to the case, and upheld the verdict
SF cannabis collective condemns Oakland med pot tax
The Green Cross, a popular medical-marijuana collective based in San Francisco, has come out swinging against the city of Oakland’s recently approved tax on cannabis sales. The club issued a news release July 26 condemning the measure as a “sin tax” and calling it “the first step towards pricing out patients and demeaning the medical movement.” Oakland voters earlier in the month overwhelmingly approved a first-of-its-kind tax on the city’s four cannabis clubs, charging them $18 for every $1,000 in gross sales. The Green Cross’s news release stated that California cannabis clubs are already taxed at the state and local level.
Golden State TV stations reject pot-legalization ad
Three California television stations – one affiliated with NBC and the others with ABC – rejected an ad by the Marijuana Policy Project calling for the legalization and taxation of cannabis. The short ad featured a woman telling viewers that the state’s budget crisis could be eased by taxing legal cannabis sales, and that the governor and legislature were “ignoring millions of Californians” who want to pay such a tax. The stations — KABC in Los Angeles and KGO and KNTV in San Francisco – refused to air the spot, with the station manager from KABC saying it had been rejected by the network’s standards division.
Massive L.A. fire may have been grow house
Los Angeles Fire Department officials say a building where a massive fire broke out in July may have been housing an indoor cannabis farm. Fire crews responded to the spectacular fire at 6:40 a.m. July 9 and put it out 40 minutes later with no injuries. A radio reporter covering the blaze and firefighters at the scene saw evidence that the building was being used as a grow house, news reports stated. The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the incident.
U.S. drug czar: Cannabis ‘has no medicinal value’
Speaking near the site of a major marijuana-eradication effort in Fresno County, the director of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy declared, “Marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal value.” Gil Kerlikowske, the former Seattle police chief appointed by President Obama to head the nation’s anti-drug efforts, also flatly rejected any notion of lifting federal cannabis prohibition laws. “Legalization is not in the president’s vocabulary, and it’s not in mine,” he said. Kerlikowske’s July 22 comments came on the heels of a local, state and federal operation called “Save Our Sierra,” or SOS, in which more than $1.2 billion in cannabis plants were seized in Fresno County woods and 80 people were arrested.
THE NATION
Iowans get to debate medical cannabis
Reacting to public outrage over its recent rejection of cannabis as a beneficial herb, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy has announced it will hold public hearings on the issue of medical marijuana. The governor-appointed board, which regulates the distribution and dispensing of prescription drugs in the state, voted earlier this year against legalizing cannabis for medical purposes. Public reaction to the vote has the board now seeking public feedback on the topic.
‘Dog ate my stash, man’
A mutt with a nose for trouble apparently stumbled upon a stash of cannabis, ate it and wound up in a vet’s office with a serious high, Seattle Police say. Jack, a Labrador mix, was strolling through a Seattle park with his owner, Jan Nestor Waddle, when he wandered off by himself and a short time later appeared disoriented and glassy-eyed. He was taken to a vet and restored to health. Police later found a duffel bag stuffed with $23,000 worth of marijuana in the park, and believe Jack may have found and eaten some of the herb. Authorities are still looking for the bag’s owner. The dog was not charged.
THE WORLD
Pot-growing ‘Potter’ actor gets community service
London judge sentenced a cast member of the “Harry Potter” film series to 120 hours of community service for growing 10 cannabis plants in his mother’s house. Jamie Waylett, who plays school thug Vincent Crabbe in the franchise, pleaded guilty in July to growing the plants in a bedroom of his mother’s London home. Judge Timothy Workman could have imposed a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison, but said he accepted Waylett’s explanation that the plants were for his own use and said the actor was, “until now, a man of good character.”
