Ohio Patient Network - January 2007

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OPNews - January 2007 edition

A Publication of Ohio Patient Network (OPN)

From the President of OPN

Welcome 2007! It sounds so futuristic, so tomorrow. You'd think that we would be flying to and fro in carplanes through clean, gleaming skyscraper cities. In the future, thought is progressive and illness is rare. Surely, in such a time cannabis has been accepted as a therapy that helps to keep illness rare.

ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS

Our Values

Organizations these days are called upon to compose statements that accurately reflect their values. What they stand for. We are working to create a Values Statement for OPN, and we would like our newsletter subscribers to weigh in.

SWOT (not SWAT!) Analysis

In Strategic Planning there is an analysis known as SWOT (no, not SWAT!). It stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Strengths and Weaknesses are thought to be internal, while Opportunities and Threats emanate from external sources.

Meetings

Meeting Notes

Topics of discussion at recent OPN/OPAN meetings:

Upcoming meetings

Online meetings for OPN and OPAN are scheduled for the following dates in January. Please mark your calendar. Instructions for accessing an online meeting are below.

STATE NEWS

Fun with Numbers: Marijuana stats don't tell much

You'd have to be stoned to draw any conclusions from City Manager Milton Dohoney's report on the impact of Cincinnati's new marijuana law. It's one of those reports that's most telling for what it doesn't say.

LTE: Ohio Taxpayers take it on the chin again

To whom it may concern,

NATIONAL NEWS

POT IS CALLED BIGGEST CASH CROP

The $35-Billion Market Value Of U.S.-Grown Cannabis Tops That Of Such Heartland Staples As Corn And Hay, A Marijuana Activist Says.

SUPES VOTE TO PERSIST WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA CHALLENGE

SAN DIEGO -- As expected, San Diego County supervisors voted Tuesday to continue their controversial legal challenge to overturn California's 10-year-old, voter-approved medical marijuana law.

JUDGE TOSSES COUNTY'S MEDICAL MARIJUANA CHALLENGE

SAN DIEGO -- Medical marijuana advocates declared victory and San Diego County officials mentioned the word "appeal" Wednesday when a Superior Court judge rejected -- for the second time -- the county's controversial challenge to overturn California's "Compassionate Use" act.

OPED: MEDICINAL MARIJUANA IS GOOD FOR VIRGINIA

It sure is funny when I think how things in life seem to come back later in life. When I came home from the Army in 1970, I tried smoking marijuana. When I got married I stopped.

LAWMAKERS HEAR MARIJUANA TOUTED FOR MEDICAL USE

Progress Being Made on Law to Block Patient Prosecution, Ann Arbor Woman Says -- Renee Emry Wolfe says she has spent most her life battling multiple sclerosis and most of the past two decades fighting the government over her use of marijuana to manage her pain.

MARIJUANA BILL SNUFFED OUT

Advocates Call for Drug's Medical Use; Petition Under Way -- Irvin Rosenfeld is a willing poster child for medical marijuana.

Free Societies Permit Drugs

Light of Liberty column

Huge Victory for Patients in California!

Impact will be felt across the country as the medical marijuana issue continues to gain momentum

JUSTICES RULE ON TRANSPORT OF MEDICINAL POT

State high court decision protects patients who carry marijuana for their own use. The action expands defense options, attorney says.

Drug use by adolescents

According to a report by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) the cannabis laws for adults have no effect on drug use by adolescents. It cites independent studies by RAND Europe and the U.S. National Research Council, which have reported that cannabis prohibition appears to have little or no impact on rates of use. Another report by MPP says that the value of cannabis production in the USA with an estimated production of 13.8 billion US dollars (about 10.5 billion Euros) exceeds the value of the production of any other agricultural product. (Source: www.mpp.org)

Science Brief: Gateway theory

Researchers of the University of Pittsburgh found that nearly a quarter of the young men in their study used cannabis before they began drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes. It's the reverse of what's known as the "gateway hypothesis," in which drug use is thought to progress from alcohol and tobacco to cannabis to hard drugs. The researchers determined also that the likelihood of developing a substance abuse problem was similar in youngsters who followed the traditional gateway drug use pattern and those who followed the reverse pattern. More at: http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/163/12/2134 (Source: Tarter RE, et al. Am J Psychiatry 2006;163(12):2134- 2140.)

Why cannabis use impairs memory and may help against epilepsy

Scientists may have just found out why cannabis impairs memory and why endocannabinoids might help against epilepsy. Neuroscientists David Robbe and Gyorgy Buzsaki at Rutgers University and their colleagues recorded hippocampus activity in rats. Normally brain cells in this region often synchronize their electrical activity.

US marijuana laws clamping the lid on pot research

There are few large-scale studies on medical marijuana users. A decade after California became the first US state to legalize medical marijuana, one small survey estimates that doctors have recommended the drug to about 350,000 patients. But continuous legal wrangling with the federal government has scared researchers away from tapping into this vast pool to understand how the drug works.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

120-Year-Old Woman Claims Smoking Pot Everyday Is Her Secret To Long Life

(December 4, 2006) Komfie Manalo - All Headline News Correspondent, New Delhi, India (AHN) - A 120-year-old woman claims that smoking cannabis every day is her secret to long life.

Swiss Parliament adopts the possibility of certificates of exemption for the medical use of cannabis

According to a proposal by the Health Committee of the parliament (Nationalrat) of 4 May 2006 the Swiss Parliament decided on 20 December to relax prohibition of the medical use of natural cannabis products. The decision allows the Health Ministry to issue exemptions for the medical use of cannabis and the approval of cannabis-based medicines.

Science Brief: Intestinal pain

In a study by French researchers the oral administration of lactobacillus acidophilus, a bacterium commonly found in yogurt, induced the formation of opioid and cannabinoid receptors in intestinal cells, and mediated pain relieving functions in the gut, which are similar to the effects of morphine. They concluded that these results suggest that the microbiology of the intestinal tract influences our perception of the belly, and "suggest new approaches for the treatment of abdominal pain and irritable bowel syndrome." (Source: Rousseaux C, et al. Nat Med. 2006 Dec 10; [electronic publication ahead of print])

Science Brief: Parkinson's disease

According to a review by scientists of the University of Frankfurt, Germany, cannabinoids possess a therapeutic potential in Parkinson's disease. They may alleviate some symptoms (levodopa-induced dyskinesia) and due to their neuroprotective properties might slow the progression of the disease. (Source: Lastres-Becker I, Fernandez-Ruiz J. Curr Med Chem. 2006;13(30):3705-18.)

The Netherlands: Cannabis pharmacy

The pharmacy Hanzeplein in Groningen is the first Dutch cannabis pharmacy. It sells medical cannabis grown by the company Bedrocan at 6 Euros per gramme. Thus, the price is similar to that in coffee-shops and cheaper than usually in pharmacies. This is a pilot project in cooperation with the Stichting Medicinale Cannabis and the Office for Medicinal Cannabis of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports. Patients need a prescription from their doctor. Website of the pharmacy: http://www.hanzeplein.nl (Source: Dagblad van het Noorden of 7 November 2006)

Canada: Poll on medical use

In a nationwide survey, an 93 percent of Canadians indicated they accept the idea of people legally smoking cannabis for health reasons. Nearly three in four (70 percent) not only accept the practice but also personally approve of the behaviour. (Source: Vancouver Sun of 2 November 2006)

The governments of Canada, Germany and Italy are interested in medical cannabis from the Netherlands

According to a letter by Mr. H. Hoogervorst, the Minister for Health, Welfare and Sport of the Netherlands, to the Dutch Parliament of 31 October the Canadian, the German and the Italian governments are interested in medical cannabis produced under supervision of the Health Ministry and sold in pharmacies of the country for distribution to patients in their countries.

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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/OPAN meetings, which are held at 7:30 p.m. (Eastern time) every Wednesday. Electronic voice/text meetings are held at the DrugSense MAP sponsored chatroom in PalTalk. More information about meetings, password, and using PalTalk is available at http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/content/view/435/160/.

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 credit card. Please note that these donations will be processed through Paypal.

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

HOW TO SUBMIT NEWS

You may submit news items via email. To have your information considered for publication, submit your story to feedback@ohiopatient.net with NEWS SUBMISSION in the subject. PLEASE DO NOT SEND ATTACHMENTS.

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 contacts the district office.

To Unsubscribe from this Newsletter

You can remove yourself from this list at any time. Please go to http://ohiopatient.net/v2/content/view/169/95/ to unsubscribe.

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