Ohio Patient Network - August 2007

Main Menu

Home

Donate

Interactive

OPNews

OPNews - August 2007 edition

A Publication of Ohio Patient Network (OPN)

ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS

From the President of OPN

Bigotry as a Means of Social Control

Chemical Bigotry has been defined as the practice of discriminating against cannabis patients for no other reason than the outcome of a drug test. After defining Chemical Bigotry, the plaguing question becomes why? Why do humans practice bigotry in the first place? Why is it so prevalent?

Upcoming Meetings

Online meetings represent one of the primary ways OPN and OPAN conduct business. It's a great feeling to speak with like-minded people from all over Ohio in real time and, in the process, plan how we're going to make a big difference in this state.

NATIONAL NEWS

Cannabis Has "Clear Medical Benefits" For HIV Patients, Study Says

June 28, 2007 - New York -- Smoked marijuana produces "substantial and comparable increases in food intake ... with little evidence of discomfort and no impairment of cognitive performance"

NM: STATE TO LET PATIENTS GROW THEIR OWN POT

When lobbyists rallied this year at the Roundhouse to legalize medical marijuana, they distinctly said patients wouldn't be growing this mind-altering herb. Rather, the state Health Department would create a secure production and distribution system - the first state to do so.

OR: TAKING UP THE FIGHT TO PROTECT MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Proposed ballot measure would undo existing law; local woman stricken with a variety of maladies vows to fight the legislation

Most presidential candidates support medical marijuana access

At least 10 of the 18 Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are now on the record in favor of ending the DEA's raids on medical marijuana and/or the federal government's prohibition on medical marijuana.

Giuliani rejects medical marijuana use

By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer (Tue Jul 10) CONCORD, N.H. - Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday that people who want to legalize marijuana for medical purposes really just want to make the drug available to everyone.

CA: MEDI-CAL PAYS POT-RELATED EXPENSES

Clearlake Woman Reimbursed For Part Of Her Share Of Cost Of Disability Caregiver

CA: Judge rejects lawsuit over pot

By Steve Chawkins, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer (July 11, 2007) -- Santa Barbara loses its fight against a statute that makes the private use of marijuana by adults the city's lowest crime-fighting priority.

Study: Medical Marijuana Smokes `Legal Alternative'

PAUL ARMENTANO (July 11, 2007) -- When Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed legislation last month that would have allowed citizens with debilitating medical conditions to use medical cannabis under their doctor's supervision, she alleged that there was no proof of pot's therapeutic effectiveness and that legal alternatives are available by prescription. Now, a just-released clinical trial by researchers at Columbia University in New York is making the governor's statements ring hollow.

Legalizing pot makes sense

National Post (July 11, 2007) -- If you had to guess which of the world's countries consumed a lot of marijuana, and you had only crude, tabular economic information instead of facts about culture to work from, you would probably look for a physically huge land mass with a long open border that was parcelled out into hundreds of thousands of privately owned agricultural tracts: farms full of brush and little stands of trees that no policeman would ever set foot in more than once every hundred years. And you'd be right on the money.

POT GROUP SUES TO MAKE FEDS EAT WORDS

If Group Can Overcome Standing Challenge, Other Would-Be Litigants Might Mimic Strategy to Oppose Variety of Federal Policies

OPED: THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEBATE: PRO

If you are sick or dying in Colorado, you can legally smoke marijuana. It's a fact that law enforcement and elected officials are less than eager for you to know.

OPED: THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEBATE: CON

In 2000, Colorado voters approved Article XVIII of the Colorado Constitution legalizing medical marijuana. For more than six years, Coloradans and law enforcement have suffered the consequences of an ill-conceived and confusing referendum. Unfortunately, the ballot measure passed because the proponents of medical marijuana played upon people's compassions and emotions and not scientific medical research.

WHO'S AFRAID OF CANNABIDIOL?

THC -delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol is often described inaccurately as "the active ingredient in cannabis." At least five other cannabinoids (compounds unique to the cannabis plant) have been shown to exhibit biological activity, and so have some of the spicy-smelling terpenes and other compounds found in plants other than cannabis.

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Endorses Medical Marijuana

U.S.'s Second Largest Cancer Charity Calls for Legal Access as Vote Looms in Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With a vote on medical marijuana looming in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has adopted a formal policy position calling for removal of criminal and civil penalties for seriously ill patients using marijuana with their doctor's recommendation. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is the second largest cancer charity in the U.S., and the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services.

CA: DEA TARGETS LANDLORDS OF POT OUTLETS

About 150 L.A. Owners Are Told They Could Face Jail and Lose Properties Rented to Dispensaries.

THE MARIJUANA LOBBYIST

So this is how he is: The chief lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project has short, clean-cut blond hair, and wears crisp, dark suits and conservative red-and-blue patterned ties. There is not a hint of dope pusher about him. He's 28, married with three children, and possesses a boyish face, easy laugh and driven demeanor. He doesn't even have a tattoo.

In Memoriam: Virginia Resner, 1946-2007

A San Francisco native who rose to national prominence in the drug policy, human rights and medical marijuana movements, passed away on July 18 in San Francisco, following a lengthy battle with cancer.

CA: REGULATING REEFER

As the City Works to Control the Number of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries, More and More Patients Are Signing Up

CRUSHING YOUR LOCAL CANNABIS COLLECTIVES

Feds Use Asset-Forfeiture Laws to Spell Evictions for Medical-Pot Providers

U.S. Mayors Declare Drug War a Failure

By Bob Curley (July 18, 2007) -- The mayors of America's large cities have unanimously approved a resolution stating that the drug war "has failed" and calling for a harm-reduction oriented approach to drug policy that focuses on public health.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Indonesian VP OKs marijuana as spice

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (June 26, 2007) JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Marijuana possession should remain a crime in Indonesia, but chefs who use the herb as a traditional way to season curries should not be arrested, the country's vice president told local reporters.

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 Teamspeak. More information about meetings and using Teamspeak 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.

[ Back ]

Join/Donate

Ohio Medical Marijuana Act
Please contact your legislators regarding the Ohio Medical Marijuana Act!

The Zoretic Patient Defense Fund
To donate to the Zoretic Patient Defense Fund, OPN's patient legal defense fund, simply click the above button. Before entering the amount, please indicate that your donation is for the Zoretic Patient Defense Fund in the Payment For: text box. Thank you for your contribution!

Who's Online
We have 262 guests online

Polls

War on Junk
A riotous exploration of prohibition policies, told through the narrative lens of a future America in which the government outlaws junk food in response to widespread obesity. Click on the image to buy this book now. 10% of the purchase price will be donated to OPN.

Mambo is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL License.