Ohio Patient Network - February 2007

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OPNews - February 2007 edition

A Publication of Ohio Patient Network (OPN)

ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS

Ohio Patient Network 2006 Year In Review

'Tis the season for organizations to reflect on the prior year, and the Ohio Patient Network is no exception. We faced many struggles in 2006, but accomplished a number of victories, too.

OPN Help Wanted

The Ohio Patient Network is currently looking for dedicated individuals to fill the following positions:

Lobby your Ohio legislators on February 7

The Ohio Patient Action Network (OPAN) http://ohiopatientaction.org/ - an MPP grantee - will hold a lobby day to generate support for medical marijuana legislation. Please join medical marijuana patients and health care advocates at the Statehouse in Columbus on Wednesday, February 7, to urge your legislators to sponsor medical marijuana legislation.

From the President of OPN

The Waiting Game

Like many patients, I make frequent trips to the doctor. There's always that seemingly endless wait. Waiting in the Waiting Room. Waiting in the exam room. Waiting. Waiting. Frankly, I become bored. During one visit - after I perused the golf course paintings, thumbed through the magazines left by other patients, and scrutinized the proudly displayed diplomas - I noticed a consistent presence: the pharmaceutical industry. I decided to write down the names of all the products I saw in the exam room. Mind you, this list doesn't come from waiting area, nor the hallway, nor lab, nor even the office in its entirety. Merely one little exam room:

Meeting Notes

Upcoming Meetings

Online meetings for OPN and OPAN are scheduled for the following dates in February. Please mark your calendar. Instructions for accessing an online meeting are below. Please note that the meeting software has changed to Teamspeak.

STATE NEWS

LTE: 200,000 Ohioans imprisoned and tortured by State Legislators

This is an estimate of the number of combined sufferers of Cancer, Aids, Multiple Sclerosis, chronic pain, and dozens of other diseases and injuries that would benefit by the legalization of Medicinal Marijuana. Daily suffering and nausea is a way of life for these people, and our state government eases their burdens by prosecuting them for trying to get some relief from this agony. Our state leaders have refused to step into the 21st century with a growing number of states that have legalized the use of medicinal cannabis for pain, muscle spasms, nausea, wasting syndroms, psychological disorders, etc. Many believe that Marinol is medical marijuana, but they are wrong. Marinol is synthetic THC (the active ingredient in cannabis) and only works some of the time, and only for nausea and wasting syndroms, not for pain or muscle spasms.

JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED

Ohio Law Remains Far Behind the Scientific and Anecdotal Evidence of Marijuana's Health-Related Uses

NATIONAL NEWS

VENDOR'S REEFER SADNESS

San Francisco -- Kevin Reed launched his medical marijuana business two years ago, armed with big dreams and an Excel spreadsheet.

EXPERTS: MEDICAL MARIJUANA BEST AS PILL

Smoking Might Benefit Small Number of Patients -- There's a lot of talk lately about giving Michiganders the right to take a toke.

OPED: MARIJUANA HAS MEDICINAL VALUES LSJ DIDN'T REPORT

The LSJ's front page article, "Experts: Medical marijuana best as pill" (Dec. 29) was almost entirely wrong.

DEA TARGETS LARGER MARIJUANA PROVIDERS

The Federal Agency Sees Big Profits for Medical Dispensaries As a Sign of Illegal High-Stakes Drug Dealing. Advocates Say the Raids Are Unfair. (HAYWARD, CA) -- Until federal drug agents arrested him last month, Shon Squier was one of Hayward's most successful and generous young businessmen.

SUPPORTERS PONDER MEDICAL MARIJUANA FOR 2008

For a majority of residents in the State of Michigan, legalizing the private use of marijuana is still something they are not willing to accept.

California's Billion-Dollar Medical Marijuana Market Offers Millions in Tax Revenues

...But Federal Policy Impedes Collection -- Californians consume between $870 million and $2 billion worth of medical marijuana per year, according to a report to Oakland's Measure Z marijuana policy oversight committee.

State Imposes 1000% Fee Hike on Medical Mariuana ID Cards

by Kevin Reed, The Green Cross (Jan. 10, 2007) -- The California Dept of Health Services has announced a major fee hike for the state medical marijuana ID cards, from $13 to $142. This is the state's share; counties charge an additional fee. On behalf of thousands of San Francisco cannabis patients I am writing to ask if you have heard about this new outrageous policy. Patients need your help NOW more than ever. With the new local laws requiring patients to get the State I.D. card to enter MCD's and now this drastic increase in the card program by almost $150, patients will need to pay $200 for an ID card every year. This has gone far beyond preposterous. Where are patient's rights? How can patients afford to keep fighting bad policy?

Momentum Builds in New Mexico

In New Mexico, the Drug Policy Alliance Network (DPAN) is gearing up for its most ambitious legislative agenda in years. During the legislative session, which runs from January 16 to March 17, DPAN will be working to advance harm reduction, drug treatment, and medical marijuana legislation.

BILL WOULD OK MEDICAL MARIJUANA

A new bill proposed this week by a South Carolina senator would legalize the use of marijuana for medical applications.

Lawmakers Aiming To Legalize Pot

Concord, NH -- A move to decriminalize the use of marijuana tops the agenda as the New Hampshire Legislature begins to hear from the public on its 1,400 bills for the 2007 session.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA RAIDS ARE CRITICIZED

Federal Agents Trampled on State Laws Allowing the Use of Pot, Say Local Officials and Residents.

STATE SENATE ADVANCES EXPANDED RX MARIJUANA BILL

MONTPELIER - After 1996, when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis after two years of symptoms, Mark Tucci of Manchester began taking a battery of heavy duty drugs.

GARDEN OF WEEDIN'

Oregon's Medical Marijuana Growers Want to Win Respect, Help the Sick...and Grow the Kindest Bud on the Planet.

REPORT REVEALING MARIJUANA AS TOP U.S. CASH CROP

If you were asked to imagine a proponent of legalized marijuana, most likely you would envision a strung-out, tie-dyed T-shirt wearing hippie waxing eloquent about its spiritual benefits. Or perhaps, you would immediately think of Willie Nelson, the aging country star who is the most vocal and prominent user and defender of this illegal drug.

AGENTS RAID MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCACY OFFICE

Plants, Computers and Cash Seized in Everett, Washington

LET THEM HAVE THEIR POT

The Feds Should Stop Harassing Sick Patients Who Have the Legal Right to Use Marijuana. -- IN THE FICTIONAL world of the hit show "24," federal law enforcement agencies are pouring every last resource into the search for a nuclear terrorist in Los Angeles.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

IS THERE A ROLE FOR MARIJUANA IN MEDICAL PRACTICE?

YES

Pain patient given permission for the medical use of cannabis

Finland's National Agency for Medicines has granted a citizen special permission to use cannabis for the relief of pain. According to a newspaper article this permission is valid for one year. Terhi Hermanson, head physician at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, said that the case is the first one in which a patient has applied for permission to use cannabis for medicinal purposes in Finland. She adds that the ministry now must examine the legislative aspects of the case.

THC decreases intraocular pressure and improves blood circulation in the eye

According to research at the University of Aachen a single oral dose of 7.5 mg THC, which was applied to eight healthy medical doctors in a self-experiment, reduced intraocular pressure (IOP) and increased blood circulation in the retina. Measurements were performed before and two hours after intake of THC.

Results of Sativex® Phase III Neuropathic Pain Trials

...Demonstrate Benefits for High Need Treatment-Resistant Patients (15 January 2007) -- GW Pharmaceuticals plc ("GW") today announces preliminary results of two Phase III studies of Sativex®, its cannabinoid spray medicine, in peripheral neuropathic pain. These studies are part of a programme to generate data for the future expansion of the use of Sativex in Europe beyond Multiple Sclerosis (MS) into other pain conditions.

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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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