Medical marijuana for ADD and it's good for kids!

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann interviews a bold and honest physician/pediatrician from the University of Southern California who explains how medical cannabis can be used to treat ADD in children.

Media Ignored Expert's Shocking Findings That Marijuana Helps Prevent Lung Cancer: Now It's Med-School Material

UCLA professor Donald Tashkin will share his research discoveries to medical students this week.

You'd think it would have been very big news in the spring of 2005 when Donald Tashkin, a professor of pulmonology at UCLA's David Geffin School of Medicine, revealed at a conference that components of marijuana smoke, although they damage cells in respiratory tissue, somehow prevent them from becoming malignant. But headlines announcing "Pot Doesn't Cause Cancer" did not ensue. 

Tashkin will review his findings and discuss current research this Thursday in Santa Monica, California as part of a course for doctors accredited by the University of California San Francisco. (It is open to the public; pre-registration is $95.)  

Tashkin has special credibility. He was the lead investigator on studies dating back to the 1970s that identified the compounds in marijuana smoke that are toxic. It was Tashkin who published photomicrographs showing that marijuana smoke damages cells lining the upper airways. It was the Tashkin lab reporting that benzpyrene -- a component of tobacco smoke that plays a role in most lung cancers -- is especially prevalent in marijuana smoke. It was Tashkin's data documenting that marijuana smokers are more likely than non-smokers to cough, wheeze and produce sputum. 

The National Institute on Drug Abuse supported Tashkin's marijuana-related research over the decades and gave him a grant to conduct a large, population-based, case-controlled study that would prove definitively that heavy, long-term marijuana use increases the risk of lung and upper-airways cancers. What Tashkin and his colleagues found, however, disproved their hypothesis.

Tashkin's team interviewed 1,212 cancer patients from the Los Angeles County Cancer Surveillance program, matched for age, gender, and neighborhood with 1,040 cancer-free controls. Marijuana use was measured in "joint years" (number of years smoked times number of joints per day). It turned out that increased marijuana use did not result in higher rates of lung and pharyngeal cancer (whereas tobacco smokers were at greater risk the more they smoked). Tobacco smokers who also smoked marijuana were at slightly lower risk of getting lung cancer than tobacco-only smokers.

The Tashkin scoop was still there for the taking in April 2009 when Tashkin reviewed his findings at a conference at Asilomar organized by "Patients Out of Time." Investigators from New Zealand had recently gotten widespread media attention for a study contradicting Tashkin's results. "Heavy cannabis users may be at greater risk of chronic lung disease --including cancer-- compared to tobacco smokers," is how BBC News summed up the New Zealanders' findings. The very small size of the study --79 smokers took part, 21 of whom smoked cannabis only-- was not held against the authors. As conveyed in the corporate media, the New Zealand study represented the latest word on this important subject.

Tashkin criticized the New Zealanders' methodology in his talk at Asilomar: "There's some cognitive dissonance associated with the interpretation of their findings. I think this has to do with the belief model among the investigators and --I wish they were here to defend themselves -- the integrity of the investigators... They actually published another paper in which they mimicked the design that we used for looking at lung function."

Tashkin, who is 70ish and wears wire-rimmed spectacles, spoke from the stage of an airy redwood chapel designed by Julia Morgan: "For tobacco they found what you'd expect: a higher risk for lung cancer and a clear dose-response relationship. A 24-fold increase in the people who smoked the most... What about marijuana? If they smoked a small or moderate amount there was no increased risk, in fact slightly less than one. But if they were in the upper third of the group, then their risk was six-fold... A rather surprising finding, and one has to be cautious about interpreting the results because of the very small number of cases (14) and controls (4)."

- alternet

Mexico's new gov to review POT fight after US vote

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The legalization of recreational marijuana in the U.S. states of Washington and Colorado will force Mexico to rethink its efforts to halt marijuana smuggling across the border, the main adviser to Mexico’s president-elect said Wednesday.

Luis Videgaray, head of incoming President Enrique Pena Nieto’s transition team, told Radio Formula that the Mexican administration taking power in three weeks remains opposed to drug legalization. But he said the votes in the two states complicate his country’s commitment to quashing the growing and smuggling of a plant now seen by many as legal in part of the U.S.

“Obviously we can’t handle a product that is illegal in Mexico, trying to stop its transfer to the United States, when in the United States, at least in part of the United States, it now has a different status,” Videgaray said. “I believe this obliges us to think the relationship in regards to security … This is an unforeseen element.”

- Beckleyfoundation

Colorado, Washington first states to legalise recreational weed

Colorado and Washington became the first US states to legalise the possession and sale of marijuana for recreational use on Tuesday in defiance of federal law, setting the stage for a possible showdown with the Obama administration.

But another ballot measure to remove criminal penalties for personal possession and cultivation of recreational cannabis was defeated in Oregon, where significantly less money and campaign organisation was devoted to the cause.

Supporters of a Colorado constitutional amendment legalising marijuana were the first to declare victory, and opponents conceded defeat, after returns showed the measure garnering nearly 53% of the vote versus 47% against.

“Colorado will no longer have laws that steer people toward using alcohol, and adults will be free to use marijuana instead if that is what they prefer. And we will be better off as a society because of it,” said Mason Tvert, co-director of the Colorado pro-legalization campaign.

The Drug Policy Alliance, a national advocacy group that backed the initiatives, said the outcome in Washington and Colorado reflected growing national support for liberalised pot laws, citing a Gallup poll last year that found 50% of Americans favoured making it legal, versus 46 opposed. 

Supporters of Washington state’s pot legalisation initiative declared victory after the Seattle Times and other media projected a win for marijuana proponents.

Early returns showed pro-legalization votes led with 55% versus to 44% opposed with about 60% of ballots tallied in the state’s all-mail-in election system.

The outcomes in Colorado and Washington, which already have laws on the books legalising marijuana for medical purposes, put both states in further conflict with the federal government, which classifies cannabis as an illegal narcotic.

The US Department of Justice reacted to the measure’s passage in Colorado by saying its enforcement policies remain unchanged, adding: “We are reviewing the ballot initiative and have no additional comment at this time.”

Separately, medical marijuana measures were on the ballot in three other states, including Massachusetts, where CNN reported that voters approved an initiative to allow cannabis for medicinal reasons. 

Supporters there issued a statement declaring victory for what they described as “the safest medical marijuana law in the country.” Seventeen other states, plus the District of Columbia, already have medical marijuana laws on their books.

A measure that would have made Arkansas the first state in the South to legalise marijuana for medical purposes appeared headed for defeat by 51% to 49% with about 80% of the vote tallied.

Marijuana rules

Under the recreational marijuana measures in Colorado and Washington, personal possession of up to 28.5 grams of marijuana would be legal for anyone at least 21 years of age.

They also will permit cannabis to be legally sold and taxed at state-licensed stores in a system modeled after a regime many states have in place for alcohol sales.

Oregon’s initiative would have legalized state-licensed sales, as well as possession and cultivation of unlimited amounts of pot for personal recreational use.

The Colorado measure will limit cultivation to six marijuana plants per person, but “grow-your-own” pot would be still be banned altogether in Washington state.

Tvert said provisions legalizing simple possession in Colorado would take effect after 30 days, once the election results are certified. Colorado’s amendment also mandates establishing rules for sales and excise tax collections once the state legislature reconvenes in January.

“The voters have spoken and we have to respect their will,” Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who opposed the measure, said in a statement. “This will be a complicated process, but we intend to follow through.”

He added: “Federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don’t break out the Cheetos or gold fish too quickly.”

The Obama administration has recently pressed an enforcement crackdown against pot dispensaries and greenhouses deemed to be engaged in large-scale drug trade under the pretense of supplying medical cannabis patients in California and elsewhere.

Before Tuesday’s election, the administration had been largely silent on latest state ballot initiatives seeking to legalize recreational pot for adults.

Several former US Drug Enforcement Administration directors had urged Obama officials to come out forcefully against the measures, as US Attorney General Eric Holder did when he criticized a 2010 California pot legalisation referendum that was soundly defeated by voters.

Critics say the social harms of legalising pot — from anticipated declines in economic productivity to a rise in traffic and workplace accidents — would trump any benefits.

Backers point to potential tax revenues to be gained and say anti-pot enforcement has accomplished little but to penalize otherwise law-abiding citizens, especially minorities.

They also argue that ending pot possession prosecutions would free up strained law enforcement resources and strike a blow against drug cartels, much as repealing alcohol prohibition in the 1930s crushed bootlegging by organized crime.

“It’s no worse than alcohol, and it’s widely used in Colorado anyway,” said Jean Henderson, 73, a retired resident of Broomfield, explaining her vote in favour of legalisation. “The state can benefit from the taxes rather than put people in jail.”

- timeslive

Marijuana: Two US states vote to legalise it

Colorado has become the first US state to approve a proposal to legalise marijuana, including for recreational use, along with Washington state.

The western state, one of three voting on the measure, voted by 52.7% in favour to 47.3% against, according to the Denver Post, with over 50% of votes counted. CNN gave 53% for with 47% against.

A number of US states have legalised the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, but Colorado, Oregon and Washington state all voted on Tuesday on legalising recreational use as well.

In Washington state 55% of voters backed the move, with 45% against, according to CNN and NBC, citing figures with 50% of votes counted.

In Oregon voters appeared set to reject the proposal, with 55% against and 45% in favour, according to CNN, with 47% of votes counted. – Sapa