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OPNews - June 2006 edition
A Publication of Ohio Patient Network (OPN)
ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS
20th Annual Ohio Hempfest
This is an invitation from SSDP for the 20th Annual Ohio Hempfest. Please stop
by the OPN booth and learn about all the new and exciting developments in Ohio.
On Saturday, June 3rd, 2006, The Ohio State University's South Oval hosts the
20th Annual Ohio Hempfest. Due largely to generous donations from local businesses,
Hempfest has been a successful community event for nineteen consecutive years.
This year, Students for Sensible Drug Policy has cooperated with the Columbus
Institute for Contemporary Journalism (The Columbus Free Press) to produce the
Hempfest Journal.
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=383&Itemid=2
OHIO PATIENT NETWORK WINS COMFEST GRANT AWARD
OPN Speakers Bureau Bolstered --May 8, 2006 (Columbus, OH) At the Thursday,
May 4th, annual meeting of the Columbus Community Festival (Comfest), the Ohio
Patient Network was awarded a $500 grant from its Community Festival Grants
Process http://www.comfest.com/grants.htm.
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=363&Itemid=2
STATE NEWS
POLICY ABOUT-FACE: Taft backs treating, not jailing, drug users
Alan Johnson, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH (Tuesday, May 16, 2006) -- Four years after
raising $1 million to defeat a constitutional amendment proposing treatment
instead of jail for some drug offenders, Gov. Bob Taft unveiled a pilot project
yesterday that would do much the same thing in Franklin and five other counties.
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=375&Itemid=2
New law spells out limits for drugged drivers
James Nash, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH (Friday, May 12, 2006) -- Ohioans who drive
under the influence of illegal drugs, or even with traces of drugs in their
blood, face jail time and stiff fines under a bill Gov. Bob Taft signed into
law yesterday.
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=376&Itemid=2
Patient to be charged for smoking marijuana
By JOE MIZER, T-R Staff Writer -- Dover police say it's unusual, but not unheard
of, for them to be called to Union Hospital at Dover for a patient smoking marijuana.
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=373&Itemid=2
NATIONAL NEWS
COURT OVERTURNS 'GURU OF GANJA'S' CULTIVATION CONVICTION
A federal appeals court on Wednesday overturned the self-proclaimed "Guru
of Ganja's" pot cultivation conviction because of jury misconduct, but
otherwise upheld federal powers to charge marijuana growers.
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=367&Itemid=2
Evaluation of a vaporizing device (Volcano®) for pulmonary administration
of tetrahydrocannabinol
Abstract: What is currently needed for optimal use of medicinal cannabinoids
is a feasible, nonsmoked, rapid-onset delivery system. Cannabis "vaporization"
is a technique aimed at suppressing irritating respiratory toxins by heating
cannabis to a temperature where active cannabinoid vapors form, but below the
point of combustion where smoke and associated toxins are produced. The goal
of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Volcano vaporizer in terms
of reproducible delivery of the bioactive cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
by using pure cannabinoid preparations, so that it could be used in a clinical
trial. By changing parameters such as temperature setting, type of evaporation
sample and balloon volume, the vaporization of THC was systematically improved
to its maximum, while preventing the formation of breakdown products of THC,
such as cannabinol or delta-8-THC. Inter- and intra-device variability was tested
as well as relationship between loaded- and !
delivered dose. It was found that an average of about 54% of loaded THC was
delivered into the balloon of the vaporizer, in a reproducible manner. When
the vaporizer was used for clinical administration of inhaled THC, it was found
that on average 35% of inhaled THC was directly exhaled again. Our results show
that with the Volcano a safe and effective cannabinoid delivery system seems
to be available to patients. The final pulmonal uptake of THC is comparable
to the smoking of cannabis, while avoiding the respiratory disadvantages of
smoking. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association
J Pharm Sci 95:1308-1317, 2006
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=368&Itemid=2
Hits and Misses
What's the best way to take medical marijuana? By Ryan Grim (Posted Friday,
May 5, 2006, at 11:56 AM ET) -- Medical-marijuana users, take heart. So what
if the Food and Drug Administration told the nation last month that marijuana
has no medical benefits? You've read about the widespread scoffing that followed,
and the 1999 Institute of Medicine study that concluded marijuana might in fact
ease some debilitating conditions. The ongoing debate is not just about whether
medical marijuana works. It's about the best way to take it.
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=372&Itemid=2
Hinchey Leads Bipartisan House Coalition In Calling For FDA
Twenty-Four Members Say Agency Needs To Start Responding To Science & Not
To Political Pressure (Washington, DC) -- One week after the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) issued a baseless, one page press release claiming that marijuana had
no medical benefits, Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) led a bipartisan group
of 24 House members in calling on the agency to explain its reasoning and show
scientific proof to support its view. Hinchey, who has offered an amendment
in the House three times that would bar the federal government from prosecuting
medical marijuana patients, doctors, and suppliers in states where medical marijuana
is legal, and his colleagues said the FDA's action appears to be politically
motivated and defies the results of a White House-commissioned Institute of
Medicine (IOM) study from 1999 that detailed the benefits of medical marijuana
use.
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=369&Itemid=2
TRENTON IS NEXT BATTLEGROUND IN MARIJUANA FIGHT
TOMS RIVER - With the announcement that a medical marijuana bill will be discussed
by the state Senate in June, residents and officials in Ocean County - which
has become an improbable battleground for the issue - are once again gearing
up for a fight.
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=374&Itemid=2
PUFFING IS THE BEST MEDICINE
The Food and Drug Administration is contradicting itself. It recently reiterated
its position that cannabis has no medical utility, but it also approved advanced
clinical trials for a marijuana-derived drug called Sativex, a liquid preparation
of two of the most therapeutically useful compounds of cannabis. This is the
same agency that in 1985 approved Marinol, another oral cannabis-derived medicine.
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=370&Itemid=2
FDA: Synthetic Marijuana Can Be Prescribed for Chemo Patients
Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - Associated Press http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,195726,00.html
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=377&Itemid=2
AMERICANS WANT MEDICAL MARIJUANA
When there is a big gap between the views of ordinary Americans on a public
issue and the voting record of their elected representatives in Congress, something
is wrong. In the current debate over the use of marijuana for medical purposes,
Americans and their representatives seem to be living on different planets.
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=378&Itemid=2
Medical Marijuana The FDA Loses More Credibility
© Cancer Monthly 2006 -- The FDA is getting the reputation of letting
drug company representatives make decisions for the country (see "Financial
conflict of interest disclosure and voting patterns at Food and Drug Administration
Drug Advisory Committee meetings"), approving dangerous drugs (see Frontline
interview with Sidney Wolfe, MD), and not performing follow-up on approved drugs
(see "FDA says firms still lagging on follow-up drug studies"). Now,
add to this list the fact that the FDA throws science out the window and makes
decisions that have no basis in reality. This bureaucracy recently stated that
"smoked marijuana has no currently accepted or proven medical use in the
United States..." This statement was made apparently without any research
and demonstrates that the needs of cancer patients play little if any role in
the decisions of this disgraceful organization.
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=379&Itemid=2
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Marijuana-like Compounds Suppress The Immune Response
Science Daily (April 29th, 2006) -- A group of Japanese scientists has discovered
that cannabinoids can cause some white blood cells to lose their ability to
migrate to the sites of infection and inflammation. These findings, which appear
in the May 5 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, could have potential
use in the development of novel anti-inflammatory drugs.
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=371&Itemid=2
The New Science of Cannabinoid-Based Medicine: An Interview with Dr. Raphael
Mechoulam
By David Jay Brown - Raphael Mechoulam, Ph.D., is the Lionel Jacobson Professor
of Medicinal Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he has been
working on cannabinoid chemistry (a term he coined) for over forty years. Throughout
this time Dr. Mechoulam and colleagues have made some of the most important
contributions to the field of cannabinoid research. His lab was the first to
identify and synthesize delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive
compound in cannabis. This discovery in 1964 (with Dr. Yehiel Gaoni) opened
the door to a whole new field of medical research that began exploring, not
only the therapeutic potential of THC (marketed as Marinol in America), but
other natural and synthetic cannabinoids as well, and offered exciting new insights
into how the brain functions.
Read more...:
http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=366&Itemid=2
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REGULAR FEATURES
OPNews Disclaimer
OPNews, a publication of Ohio Patient Network (OPN), provides medical cannabis
news that affects Ohio patients, caregivers, and health professionals. Articles
are intended for information purposes and do not reflect an official position
by OPN or the OPN Board of Directors.
YOU ARE INVITED TO OPN MEETINGS
The OPN Board of Directors invites you to participate in OPN patient forums,
which are held at 8:00 p.m. (Eastern time) the last Wednesday of each month.
You are also welcome to attend the weekly OPN business meetings. Please see
the weekly business meeting agenda email on the OPN discussion list for password
information. Electronic voice/text meetings are held at the OPN chatroom in
PalTalk. More information about meetings and using PalTalk are available at
http://ohiopatient.net/v2/content/category/3/15/27/.
HELP THE OPN SUPPORT PATIENTS
The Ohio Patient Network's goal is to provide a voice for Ohio's medicinal
cannabis patients and create an environment where this vital medicine becomes
an accepted and legitimate therapy. To do this, we need your help. We'd like
you to personally become involved in OPN by donating your time. Please check
out our various committees on our website.
If you'd prefer, you can also support medicinal cannabis and what we are doing
by contributing monetarily to OPN. Please note that the Ohio Patient Network
is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation in the State of Ohio. Donations to OPN
are tax deductible to the extent provided by law. Please visit our website (http://ohiopatient.net)
and click on the Donate button on any page to make a contribution using your
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If you would prefer to donate by check or money order, please make them payable
to the "Ohio Patient Network" and mail to P.O. Box 26353, Columbus,
OH 43216.
Thank you for supporting the Ohio Patient Network
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HOW TO CONTACT YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATOR
Find your Representative in the Ohio House at http://www.house.state.oh.us/jsps/Representatives.jsp
Find your Ohio Senator at http://www.senate.state.oh.us/senators/
Write to your officials care of their district office, or send your letter
to their Columbus office at:
The Honorable (name)
Ohio House of Representatives
77 South High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43266-0603
-or-
The Honorable (name)
Ohio Senate Building
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Telephone calls and emails are also persuasive, especially when the constituent
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