Regardless of the smoldering controversy cannabis stirs up in Sacramento City Hall, the state Capitol and Washington D.C., the global scientific community has examined the drug with increasing interest recently. Local patients and doctors can't say enough about the groundbreaking potential of THC as a pharmaceutical. There's a fairly large medical cannabis community in Sacramento, of patients, caregivers and researchers. Some dispensaries work directly with patients and doctors to bridge th... cheyacary soccrguy108 comment-48302 2011-03-30T02:36:37Z 2011-03-30T02:36:37Z Why not medicinal cocaine or medicinal heroin? People hide behind legalization just to get high. Stoners! To dispuite the above statements. A. Cocaine is used in medicine as a numbing agent B. Heroin is precribed in Europe as an analgesic, cough suppresant, and anesthetic. Although these drugs have been generally replaced by less addictive and safer alternatives in modern medicine, they still hold important positions in medicine for certain patients and other parts of the world where not all medicines are readily available and affordable.. Many drugs, prescription or not, are addictive and habit forming, but that does not mean they should be banned or considered illicit. Every drug has a purpose and when used responsibly, is an important part of keeping this world healthy. soccrguy108 2011-03-30T02:36:37Z Mathieu Über comment-12708 2009-08-26T23:06:22Z 2009-08-26T23:06:22Z You're not supposed to smoke the hemp, man. Mathieu Über 2009-08-26T23:06:22Z Mathieu Über comment-12707 2009-08-26T22:56:50Z 2009-08-26T22:56:50Z Not to mention the general conceptual sense of control they are unwilling to relinquish. Drug laws are largley an extension of racism; it is a continuum of oppression - a war on personal freedom. But let's not forget that drugs are bad for society and the government did find it necessary to regulate them in order to have a functional society. Mathieu Über 2009-08-26T22:56:50Z mike88 comment-12519 2009-08-24T16:16:32Z 2009-08-24T16:16:32Z *cough* HEMP! *cough* mike88 2009-08-24T16:16:32Z DrFrankLucido comment-12441 2009-08-21T21:41:37Z 2009-08-21T21:41:37Z No Frank H. Lucido MD Family Practice since 1979 Medical Cannabis Consultation Expert Witness 2300 Durant Avenue Berkeley Ca 94704 510.848.0958 (by appointment only) www.DrFrankLucido.com (formerly MedicalBoardWatch.com) www.AIMLegal.org www.DrFrankLucido.blogspot.com DrFrankLucido 2009-08-21T21:41:37Z DrFrankLucido comment-12440 2009-08-21T21:36:50Z 2009-08-21T21:36:50Z Leapcop is right. Cocaine is only Schedule II, like Demeral, Morphine, and other closely regulated, but useful medicines. And heroin is categorized like morphine in the UK. That said, marijuana (cannabis) just doesn't belong in the same class with Heroin, and will eventually be re-scheduled as Schedule II, or more appropriately as Schedule III, like Marinol, (dronabinol), the synthetic THC. More likely, California will pass a "tax and regulate" bill next year. See Tom Ammiano bill AB390 at www.yes390.org Also see my last statement to the Medical Board of California in June, 2009: http://drfranklucido.blogspot.com/2009/05/dr-lucidos-statement-to-medical-board.html Frank H. Lucido MD Family Practice since 1979 Medical Cannabis Consultation Expert Witness 2300 Durant Avenue Berkeley Ca 94704 510.848.0958 (by appointment only) www.DrFrankLucido.com (formerly MedicalBoardWatch.com) www.AIMLegal.org www.DrFrankLucido.blogspot.com DrFrankLucido 2009-08-21T21:36:50Z Steven Bourasa comment-12436 2009-08-21T19:32:46Z 2009-08-21T19:32:46Z Is there a difference between "medical use" and "medicinal use"? Steven Bourasa 2009-08-21T19:32:46Z Ben Ilfeld comment-12430 2009-08-21T18:24:42Z 2009-08-21T18:24:42Z Click on Waldorf's name and see their most recent comments. Usually they are funny and my favorite on the site. Ben Ilfeld 2009-08-21T18:24:42Z ladybugsarered comment-12424 2009-08-21T18:00:12Z 2009-08-21T18:00:12Z WaldorfandStatler- Please tell me you are just being childish and "troll baiting" on a discussion that you really aren't intelligent enough to participate in. Otherwise, I feel truly sorry for you when later in life you are in extreme pain or diagnosed with a terminal illness and because of your "beliefs", must suffer needlessly. I wish my Mom would have had access to this (she wasn't the "break the law" type), she did suffer needlessly until her death at age 43 from breast cancer. ladybugsarered 2009-08-21T18:00:12Z Steven Bourasa comment-12407 2009-08-21T05:21:48Z 2009-08-21T05:21:48Z What's wrong with getting high? Why should that be a crime? Steven Bourasa 2009-08-21T05:21:48Z Holly Ilfeld comment-12402 2009-08-21T02:27:54Z 2009-08-21T02:27:54Z Thanks for the info - that is just what I was looking for! Ben, I did press the thumbs up! Holly Ilfeld 2009-08-21T02:27:54Z Dale Kooyman comment-12401 2009-08-21T02:16:33Z 2009-08-21T02:16:33Z So when someone is terminally ill or just seriously ill and in pain, what's wrong with wanting to feel better? That's one of the reasons why legal drugs are prescribed too--to reduce or eliminate a sick person's pain and make them feel better. Apparently you've never been seriously ill or in pain and needed a prescription to feel better--even an aspirin to relieve headache pain--so you may not understand that. Some people drink coffee to get the benefit of being "high" --the addictive drug caffeine at work. The addictive drug nicotine in cancer causing cigarettes give people a "high" too. But then you've never drank coffee or smoked cigarettes, so you wouldn't know that either. Dale Kooyman 2009-08-21T02:16:33Z leapcop comment-12376 2009-08-20T22:41:53Z 2009-08-20T22:41:53Z Actually there IS medicinal cocaine waldorf...and if you have ever had morphine, it comes from the same opium poppy plant as heroin. do some homework waldorf and educate yourself to get past your REEFER MADNESS mentality....so 1937. Holly, Marinol has had poor results from its users simply because it is more difficult to metabolize by the liver where it is absorbed. The marijuana in its natural form is much easier to titrate the dosage for the person receiving benefit from its GOD GIVEN properties. If anyone wants to hear more science based evidence of marijuana and its many uses go to youtube and type in Dr. Robert Melamede. He is a professor at UCCS and teaches a 400 level class on ENDOCANNABINOIDS and ALL its many benefits including PROTECTING CELLS, AND CURING CANCER. leapcop 2009-08-20T22:41:53Z Dannyboy comment-12375 2009-08-20T22:32:35Z 2009-08-20T22:32:35Z Marinol is a lab made version of THC the main component of Marijuana. It is ironic that the FDA will pass this drug with a stamp of approval and not Marijuana. The reason it is not more widely used is because it is ineffective, only about 13% of people given the medication gain any benefit from it. And many end up feeling more sic, a possible reason is that the marijuana plant has many more components than just THC and it is believed that those components work together with the THC. another reason is that since it is ingested orally is takes 30+ minutes for it too take effect. Where as smoking a joint, or inhaling from a vaporizer is nearly instant. Drug companies cant profit from a plant they have to change it and in doing so they made it less effective. So just smoke and enjoy yourself, the fact that Marijuana can not kill you makes it a very good looking option too replace some prescriptions that can kill you. Dannyboy 2009-08-20T22:32:35Z waldorfandstatler comment-12373 2009-08-20T21:50:39Z 2009-08-20T21:50:39Z Why not medicinal cocaine or medicinal heroin? People hide behind legalization just to get high. Stoners! waldorfandstatler 2009-08-20T21:50:39Z Anthony Bento comment-12362 2009-08-20T20:20:53Z 2009-08-20T20:20:53Z Great story, Cheyenne. In addition to recent scientific analysis, declines in government revenue have caused some politicians to re-think state law regarding the prohibition cannabis. AB 390 (Ammiano), for example, would legalize the sale and taxation of cannabis to those 21 and older. Anthony Bento 2009-08-20T20:20:53Z Ben Ilfeld comment-12355 2009-08-20T16:44:19Z 2009-08-20T16:44:19Z By the way, on this story in particular I urge everyone to click the green storyline tab on the right. Cheyenne has put together a very comprehensive storyline about this issue locally and the whole thing deserves attention. Ben Ilfeld 2009-08-20T16:44:19Z Dale Kooyman comment-12351 2009-08-20T16:40:53Z 2009-08-20T16:40:53Z Holly, regarding your not understanding the controversy, did it occur to you that there would be NO controversy if only the drug industry could grow, process and sell M at many times the cost of producing it? The fact that it can be grown, distributed and used without it having a monopoly is a great threat to its income from other drugs that it promotes and sells. Competition from another source? Perish the thought! Competition is good only for the little guy not for the huge drug industry!! Don't forget too that for non-medical use, the alcohol industry is also very worried. It benefits them to throw fuel on the fire. Imagine something that people can buy legally, ingest a tiny amount and get a pleasant non-hangover high. Law enforcement agencies in various parts of the country can benefit too from M being classified a "narcotic" which enables them to seize and sell "offenders' " property, providing a nice little side income for those agencies. Dale Kooyman 2009-08-20T16:40:53Z Holly Ilfeld comment-12344 2009-08-20T15:42:12Z 2009-08-20T15:42:12Z I don't really understand why there is still a controversy as my brother-in-law was given THC in a capsule by his oncologist in New York while undergoing cancer treatment. Why are patients here not prescribed this medication. I believe it was called marinol (spelling???). Do you know anything about this? Holly Ilfeld 2009-08-20T15:42:12Z