2014-08-07 from [https://www.cannabisscience.com/index.php/news-media/news-releases/359-cannabis-science-in-final-negotiations-to-establish-its-first-medical-cannabis-facilities-in-canada]:
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. --
Cannabis Science, Inc. (CBIS), a U.S. company specializing in cannabis formulation-based drug development and related consulting, is in the final stages of launching a new joint venture company for the purpose of acquiring, financing, building, owning and operating medical cannabis facilities, including dispensaries and growing operations, throughout Canada.
The Company believes that this joint venture has the potential to expand the Company's operations outside of the United States and to allow the Company's entry and expansion into Canada's marketplace.
"Acquiring cannabis facilities in Canada represents a compelling business opportunity developed through our focus on collaborative innovation and takes one of our international initiatives to the next level," said Chad S. Johnson, Director, COO and General Counsel of the Company. "We are excited to be working jointly with our partners, which allows us to leverage our respective global research knowledge and resources to facilitate the Canadian operations. The Company also intends to use these facilities for research and development purposes in addition to the selling of the cannabis products under relevant laws and regulations. More to come."
While the Company is optimistic about the potential for commercialization of cannabis products, it recognizes that, as with the acquisition and development cannabis facilities, the process can be lengthy and without assurances.
About Cannabis Science, Inc.
Cannabis Science, Inc., takes advantage of its unique understanding of metabolic processes to provide novel treatment approaches to a number of illnesses for which current treatments and understanding remain unsatisfactory. The Company works with leading experts in drug development, medicinal characterization, and clinical research to develop, produce, and commercialize novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment for illnesses caused by infections as well as for age-related illness. Our initial focus is on skin cancers and neurological conditions.
Forward Looking Statements -
This Press Release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, that are not historical facts, and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected and projected. A statement containing words such as "anticipate," "seek," intend," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "project," "plan," or similar phrases may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance, but reflect CBIS management's current beliefs, based on information currently available. Some or all of the events or results anticipated by these forward-looking statements may not occur. A number of factors could cause actual events, performance or results to differ materially from the events, performance and results discussed in the forward-looking statements.
Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company's reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based drugs. Cannabis Science, Inc., does not undertake any duty nor does it intend to update the results of these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
"Cannabis Science Announces Critical Cancer Patient Dr. Lynnice Wedewer, Ph.D., Cured Seven Times By Medical Cannabis"
"The Company Plans A Documentary Featuring Dr. Lynnice Wedewer, Ph.D., And Other Cancer Patients Being Treated with Medical Cannabis"
2011-06-29 from [https://www.cannabisscience.com/index.php/news-media/news-archive/201-cannabis-science-announces-critical-cancer-patient-dr-lynnice-wedewer-ph-d-cured-seven-times-by-medical-cannabis]:
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--
Cannabis Science Inc. (NASD OTCBB: CBIS) a pioneering US biotech company developing pharmaceutical cannabis products, is pleased to announce that it has been contacted by Lynnice Wedewer, Ph.D. who is a 34 year multiple cancer patient survivor who has been cured of 7 of her 8 cancers in a major part because of medical cannabis. Dr. Wedewer wishes to share her story through Cannabis Science and help our case and education towards general acceptance of medical cannabis as a natural and viable treatment for cancer.
In 1979, Iowa passed a medical marijuana law which impacted five children suffering from cancer and who were placed into a cancer treatment program using medical cannabis under the supervision of the University of Iowa. Dr. Wedewer was one of those children and only 1 1/2 years ago did the law in Iowa finally change to allow these patients to finally speak out about their treatment and success stories in battling cancer with medical cannabis.
The Company is excited to feature Dr. Lynnice Wedewer’s cancer success story and testimonial in its upcoming documentary, along with other cancer survivors who were cured through the use of medical cannabis.
Dr. Wedewer runs a website www.lynnicewedewer.com where she provides her testimony, speeches, educational material, marijuana facts, interviews and documentaries, and other informational links regarding marijuana.
Dr. Robert Melamede, Ph. D., Cannabis Science Inc., President & CEO said, “These are exciting times to be part of a burgeoning medical marijuana movement and shedding light on patients who are telling their stories and opening up medical files to demonstrate the cancer curing power of medical cannabis. We are enthusiastic and hopefully that Dr. Lynnice Wedewer’s testimonial and cancer success along with other patient success stories, including profound medical evidence, will help to educate and finally open up the eyes of federal regulators to decriminalize medical cannabis; so more people’s lives can be saved by this natural herbal remedy and stop killing people with man-made pharmaceuticals."
About Cannabis Science, Inc.
Cannabis Science, Inc. is at the forefront of pharmaceutical grade medical marijuana research and development. The Company works with world authorities on phytocannabinoid science targeting critical illnesses, and adheres to scientific methodologies to develop, produce and commercialize phytocannabinoid-based pharmaceutical products. In sum, we are dedicated to the creation of cannabis-based medicines, both with and without psychoactive properties, to treat disease and the symptoms of disease, as well as for general health maintenance.
This Press Release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. A statement containing works such as "anticipate," "seek," intend," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "project," "plan," or similar phrases may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Some or all of the events or results anticipated by these forward-looking statements may not occur. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company's reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based drugs. Cannabis Science, Inc. does not undertake any duty nor does it intend to update the results of these forward-looking statements.
[end article]
The following is in contrast to the research in (inexpensive) cannabinoid extracts as treatment for cancer, and the following does not mention cannabinoids being utilized for research...
---
"Drugmakers taking a shot at cancer with vaccines"
2014-07-01 by Stephanie M. Lee from the "San Francisco Chronicle" [http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Drugmakers-taking-a-shot-at-cancer-with-vaccines-5591171.php]:
In the fight against cancer, biopharmaceutical companies are seeing new promise in weapons that could be more powerful and safer than many existing treatments: vaccines.
Cancer vaccines and other emerging cancer immunotherapies make up one of medicine's most active and best-funded areas right now. These treatments, which harness the immune system in various ways to fight or prevent tumors, could generate $35 billion within a decade, analysts say.
Scientists see vaccines as promising because, compared with invasive surgery and toxic chemotherapy, they could prompt the body to attack the disease with impressive results and minimal side effects.
Drugmakers have tried to develop cancer vaccines in the past, but most have failed in clinical trials.
Nonetheless, vaccine makers like Aduro BioTech in Berkeley are forging ahead and earning support from big pharmaceutical companies. In a deal that could be worth up to $365 million, Aduro recently licensed a vaccine for prostate cancer to Janssen Biotech, the pharmaceutical arm of Johnson & Johnson. In a separate agreement, Aduro granted Janssen rights to yet another vaccine technology for prostate cancer. In June, Johnson & Johnson and other investors poured $55 million into privately held Aduro, which has raised $84 million in total.
"We think it's a very promising field, particularly because some of the newer therapeutics, like Aduro's therapeutics, are demonstrating very impressive immune responses," said Dr. Arturo Molina, vice president of oncology scientific innovation at Janssen. "We can characterize the immune responses and see that these are very specific for tumor cells."
Boost prostate therapy -
Johnson & Johnson already has a drug for prostate cancer, Zytiga, and is committed to paying up to $1 billion for Aragon Pharmaceuticals' experimental prostate cancer drugs. But Molina thinks these therapies could be even more powerful against prostate cancer if combined with Aduro's immune treatments.
Johnson & Johnson isn't alone in its enthusiasm for the general field of immuno-oncology. Last year, Citi estimated that such drugs would be a $35 billion market by 2023.
"There is a lot of excitement, and I would say it's sort of unprecedented what's happening in the cancer immunotherapy arena now," said Dr. Lynn Schuchter, an oncologist at the University of Pennsylvania and chair of the cancer research committee for the American Society of Clinical Oncology. "Many people thought it was a dead field, but it is alive."
What is driving the investment, she said, is scientists' increasingly deeper knowledge of how the immune system works.
"In the past, we just targeted things that were sort of a red flag but maybe irrelevant to the actual function of the cancer cell," Schuchter said. "What you're seeing are more approaches that attack the Achilles' heel of a cancer cell or combine different types of immunotherapies with a vaccine."
There are already some well-known vaccines that help prevent cancer, called prophylactic vaccines. Gardasil and Cervarix protect people against the human papilloma virus, which is linked to cervical cancer. Most children are vaccinated against hepatitis B, which can lead to liver cancer.
Vaccines' tricky design -
But scientists have had a trickier time designing therapeutic vaccines, or vaccines that treat existing cancers. Cancer cells often don't "look" dangerous or foreign to the body, so vaccines must be powerful enough to make the immune system attack them. At the same time, vaccines must prompt the immune system to go after specific targets without damaging "good" cells.
Just one cancer treatment vaccine is currently available: Dendreon's Provenge, which is for some men with metastatic prostate cancer.
On the other hand, promising vaccines from Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline, Oncothyreon, Ziopharm and Keryx have all failed to hold up in clinical trials. Other companies have instead pursued different immunotherapies that boost the immune system in general or attack specific parts of cancer cells.
Germ made safe -
One of Aduro's types of vaccines involves Listeria monocytogenes, a germ that's best-known for contaminating food but has been engineered to be safe in humans. Listeria has been shown to activate the immune system, and it also boosts the effectiveness of other vaccines and treatments, Aduro says.
Another type of vaccine involves tumor cell lines that have been irradiated and engineered to prompt the immune system to go after tumor cells.
Aduro is testing its vaccines on several cancers besides prostate cancer, including pancreatic cancer, mesothelioma, glioblastoma and ovarian cancer. Some are being tested in combination with chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
The flu-like symptoms patients have reported so far suggest the treatments are less toxic than chemotherapy or radiation alone, said Stephen Isaacs, Aduro's president and CEO.
"It's a much more holistic way to address the disease - using the power of the body to fight the cancer instead of chemicals," he said.
2011-06-29 from [https://www.cannabisscience.com/index.php/news-media/news-archive/201-cannabis-science-announces-critical-cancer-patient-dr-lynnice-wedewer-ph-d-cured-seven-times-by-medical-cannabis]:
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--
Cannabis Science Inc. (NASD OTCBB: CBIS) a pioneering US biotech company developing pharmaceutical cannabis products, is pleased to announce that it has been contacted by Lynnice Wedewer, Ph.D. who is a 34 year multiple cancer patient survivor who has been cured of 7 of her 8 cancers in a major part because of medical cannabis. Dr. Wedewer wishes to share her story through Cannabis Science and help our case and education towards general acceptance of medical cannabis as a natural and viable treatment for cancer.
In 1979, Iowa passed a medical marijuana law which impacted five children suffering from cancer and who were placed into a cancer treatment program using medical cannabis under the supervision of the University of Iowa. Dr. Wedewer was one of those children and only 1 1/2 years ago did the law in Iowa finally change to allow these patients to finally speak out about their treatment and success stories in battling cancer with medical cannabis.
The Company is excited to feature Dr. Lynnice Wedewer’s cancer success story and testimonial in its upcoming documentary, along with other cancer survivors who were cured through the use of medical cannabis.
Dr. Wedewer runs a website www.lynnicewedewer.com where she provides her testimony, speeches, educational material, marijuana facts, interviews and documentaries, and other informational links regarding marijuana.
Dr. Robert Melamede, Ph. D., Cannabis Science Inc., President & CEO said, “These are exciting times to be part of a burgeoning medical marijuana movement and shedding light on patients who are telling their stories and opening up medical files to demonstrate the cancer curing power of medical cannabis. We are enthusiastic and hopefully that Dr. Lynnice Wedewer’s testimonial and cancer success along with other patient success stories, including profound medical evidence, will help to educate and finally open up the eyes of federal regulators to decriminalize medical cannabis; so more people’s lives can be saved by this natural herbal remedy and stop killing people with man-made pharmaceuticals."
About Cannabis Science, Inc.
Cannabis Science, Inc. is at the forefront of pharmaceutical grade medical marijuana research and development. The Company works with world authorities on phytocannabinoid science targeting critical illnesses, and adheres to scientific methodologies to develop, produce and commercialize phytocannabinoid-based pharmaceutical products. In sum, we are dedicated to the creation of cannabis-based medicines, both with and without psychoactive properties, to treat disease and the symptoms of disease, as well as for general health maintenance.
This Press Release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. A statement containing works such as "anticipate," "seek," intend," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "project," "plan," or similar phrases may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Some or all of the events or results anticipated by these forward-looking statements may not occur. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company's reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based drugs. Cannabis Science, Inc. does not undertake any duty nor does it intend to update the results of these forward-looking statements.
[end article]
The following is in contrast to the research in (inexpensive) cannabinoid extracts as treatment for cancer, and the following does not mention cannabinoids being utilized for research...
---
"Drugmakers taking a shot at cancer with vaccines"
2014-07-01 by Stephanie M. Lee from the "San Francisco Chronicle" [http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Drugmakers-taking-a-shot-at-cancer-with-vaccines-5591171.php]:
In the fight against cancer, biopharmaceutical companies are seeing new promise in weapons that could be more powerful and safer than many existing treatments: vaccines.
Cancer vaccines and other emerging cancer immunotherapies make up one of medicine's most active and best-funded areas right now. These treatments, which harness the immune system in various ways to fight or prevent tumors, could generate $35 billion within a decade, analysts say.
Scientists see vaccines as promising because, compared with invasive surgery and toxic chemotherapy, they could prompt the body to attack the disease with impressive results and minimal side effects.
Drugmakers have tried to develop cancer vaccines in the past, but most have failed in clinical trials.
Nonetheless, vaccine makers like Aduro BioTech in Berkeley are forging ahead and earning support from big pharmaceutical companies. In a deal that could be worth up to $365 million, Aduro recently licensed a vaccine for prostate cancer to Janssen Biotech, the pharmaceutical arm of Johnson & Johnson. In a separate agreement, Aduro granted Janssen rights to yet another vaccine technology for prostate cancer. In June, Johnson & Johnson and other investors poured $55 million into privately held Aduro, which has raised $84 million in total.
"We think it's a very promising field, particularly because some of the newer therapeutics, like Aduro's therapeutics, are demonstrating very impressive immune responses," said Dr. Arturo Molina, vice president of oncology scientific innovation at Janssen. "We can characterize the immune responses and see that these are very specific for tumor cells."
Boost prostate therapy -
Johnson & Johnson already has a drug for prostate cancer, Zytiga, and is committed to paying up to $1 billion for Aragon Pharmaceuticals' experimental prostate cancer drugs. But Molina thinks these therapies could be even more powerful against prostate cancer if combined with Aduro's immune treatments.
Johnson & Johnson isn't alone in its enthusiasm for the general field of immuno-oncology. Last year, Citi estimated that such drugs would be a $35 billion market by 2023.
"There is a lot of excitement, and I would say it's sort of unprecedented what's happening in the cancer immunotherapy arena now," said Dr. Lynn Schuchter, an oncologist at the University of Pennsylvania and chair of the cancer research committee for the American Society of Clinical Oncology. "Many people thought it was a dead field, but it is alive."
What is driving the investment, she said, is scientists' increasingly deeper knowledge of how the immune system works.
"In the past, we just targeted things that were sort of a red flag but maybe irrelevant to the actual function of the cancer cell," Schuchter said. "What you're seeing are more approaches that attack the Achilles' heel of a cancer cell or combine different types of immunotherapies with a vaccine."
There are already some well-known vaccines that help prevent cancer, called prophylactic vaccines. Gardasil and Cervarix protect people against the human papilloma virus, which is linked to cervical cancer. Most children are vaccinated against hepatitis B, which can lead to liver cancer.
Vaccines' tricky design -
But scientists have had a trickier time designing therapeutic vaccines, or vaccines that treat existing cancers. Cancer cells often don't "look" dangerous or foreign to the body, so vaccines must be powerful enough to make the immune system attack them. At the same time, vaccines must prompt the immune system to go after specific targets without damaging "good" cells.
Just one cancer treatment vaccine is currently available: Dendreon's Provenge, which is for some men with metastatic prostate cancer.
On the other hand, promising vaccines from Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline, Oncothyreon, Ziopharm and Keryx have all failed to hold up in clinical trials. Other companies have instead pursued different immunotherapies that boost the immune system in general or attack specific parts of cancer cells.
Germ made safe -
One of Aduro's types of vaccines involves Listeria monocytogenes, a germ that's best-known for contaminating food but has been engineered to be safe in humans. Listeria has been shown to activate the immune system, and it also boosts the effectiveness of other vaccines and treatments, Aduro says.
Another type of vaccine involves tumor cell lines that have been irradiated and engineered to prompt the immune system to go after tumor cells.
Aduro is testing its vaccines on several cancers besides prostate cancer, including pancreatic cancer, mesothelioma, glioblastoma and ovarian cancer. Some are being tested in combination with chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
The flu-like symptoms patients have reported so far suggest the treatments are less toxic than chemotherapy or radiation alone, said Stephen Isaacs, Aduro's president and CEO.
"It's a much more holistic way to address the disease - using the power of the body to fight the cancer instead of chemicals," he said.
Friday, May 9, 2014
"Marijuana Refugees: Virginia Family Moves to Colorado to Treat Epileptic Child with Cannabis Oil"
2014-05-09 from "Democracy Now!" [http://www.democracynow.org/2014/5/9/marijuana_refugees_virginia_family_moves_to]:
Last year, Dara Lightle and her nine-year-old daughter, Madeleine, became "marijuana refugees" when they moved from Virginia to Colorado. At the time, Madeleine was suffering from hundreds of seizures a day. Her doctors in Virginia recommended brain surgery. Then Dara heard how cannabis oil had treated children suffering from similar conditions. The oil worked. But since the oil was considered an illegal drug in much of the country, they had to move to Colorado, where it is legal, to continue treatment. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, at least 115 "marijuana refugee families" from 43 states have left jobs, homes and family so they could obtain the cannabis oil to treat a variety of ailments. We speak to Dara and Madeleine in Denver.
TRANSCRIPT (This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form) -
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Today we look at marijuana refugees—people and families who have uprooted their lives and moved to Colorado with the hope of obtaining medical marijuana to treat various illnesses. Many are families with young children who suffer from epilepsy and relentless seizures. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, at least 115 marijuana refugee families from 43 states have left jobs, homes and the rest of their family so they could obtain oil made from a special strain of cannabis that have repeatedly quelled the seizures in a handful of kids in Colorado Springs.
AMY GOODMAN: The Colorado Springs Gazette recently published a piece about nine-year-old Madeleine Lightle and her mother Dara, who moved from Virginia to Colorado. In a moment, Madeleine and her mother will join us, but first let’s turn to this video about their story produced by the Colorado Springs Gazette.
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: Hi. My name is Madeleine.
DARA LIGHTLE: When I think of a child who has seizures, I think of a very low-functioning child. So, to see my high-functioning child and imagine her losing function was very scary. There was hope that she wouldn’t have any more, that that would be it, she would just have one. And then she had another one about a month later. And then it’s like you go through all those emotions again. You don’t know what’s going to happen. And, you know, earlier that year, I’d been wondering: Why can’t she do math anymore? You know, I’m trying to teach her the same grade over and over again, and nothing is sticking.
So, that’s when they told us that she was a candidate for brain surgery. What we didn’t know is that what they wanted to do was take out the entire left side of her brain. And to look at your daughter and imagine half of her brain being taken out, it was probably the hardest point in my life. It could make her better, or it could not. It could take away seizures, or it could not. Still, again, it was our only hope. It was our only hope.
This is when I saw a video about medical cannabis and how it could help with seizures. And it was about two weeks after that, that it was like: I think we need to move to Colorado; I think I need to bring Madeleine to Colorado. And then, within the next week, it was like: We’re moving, and we’re not coming back. It’s been six months. She began reading, she began writing, she began doing math—and remembering.
Yeah? Two plus two is?
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: Four.
DARA LIGHTLE: You got them all right, Madeleine!
Some days I just feel like: What a blessing that we were given this opportunity! I don’t feel worthy, but I do believe my daughter is worthy to have a chance at life and to live, and I’m so grateful that this simple oil from a plant is giving her that.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Dara Lightle in a video produced by the Colorado Springs Gazette. For more, we go to Denver, where we’re joined by Dara and her daughter Madeleine, or Maddy.
Thanks so much for driving in a couple hours from Colorado Springs to Denver for this conversation. Dara, why don’t you start off by talking about where Madeleine was born and when she had her first seizure?
DARA LIGHTLE: Well, Madeleine was born in 2004, and she actually was born prematurely and had a stroke in utero. And then, actually, we did not see any seizures until she was five years old. She had her first seizure when she—in 2010, in the summer of 2010. And we were actually not expecting it, even though she did have brain damage on the left side of her brain due to the stroke in utero. We thought, by that age, we would not see any seizures.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And once those initial seizures began, what kind of medications did you use at that point?
DARA LIGHTLE: We used pharmaceutical medications—Trileptal, I think, was one of the first, and Vimpat—started with, you know, low dosages, but she continued to have seizures. More were added on. Some were taken away because they were—had adverse effects, such as anger. We saw a lot of—she’s actually very—normally very calm and very sweet. We saw things in her like personality changes. And so they would take some away and add some more. And we would still continue to see issues, but we would have to deal with them because sometimes her seizures would stop for a time, and then her seizures would come back, and they would have to keep adding more medication on.
AMY GOODMAN: Maddy, thank you for coming in with your mother. It’s good to have you with us. Hi.
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: Hi.
DARA LIGHTLE: Say hi.
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: Hi.
AMY GOODMAN: Madeleine, Maddy, can you talk about how a seizure feels for you?
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: It feels, um, pretty not good, but I have—but I usually tell my mom that I’m having a seizure and that I have—that I have a good life with seizures and that this medication is helping me.
AMY GOODMAN: So, Dara, can you talk about what the—what that trajectory is from having gone through the seizures and then ultimately coming to Colorado, the drugs you used before and what you’re using now?
DARA LIGHTLE: Well, basically, last summer, the medications she was on, by the end of last summer, she was on three medications. Her emotions and—she was kind of like what I would call a zombie. She was a shell of a person. There were times where she couldn’t even find the bathroom in the house that she grew up in. And that’s how bad things were during that time. Whether that was from pharmaceuticals or seizures, we’re still unsure. I think that the pharmaceuticals actually exasperated her condition and made her worse. We decided—when we saw this video about medical marijuana and how it was helping children with seizures, we decided the best thing for Madeleine was that we needed to move out to Colorado. And my mother joined me out here in Colorado.
When we came out here and Madeleine started the medical cannabis, it was—as you heard in that video, it was—our only hope before was brain surgery, taking out the whole left side of her brain. And to look at my child and imagine taking out the left side of her brain is very difficult for any mother, for any parent to see that. So, when we heard that medical cannabis could help, at first it was scary, because you’re like, "Well, I don’t want my child getting stoned. I don’t want my child smoking pot." But once we realized that it really was an oil that is given—you know, was given to her at first three times a day sublingually, in her mouth, and that it wouldn’t get her high or anything like that, we slowly started to realize that actually the pharmaceuticals were making her high and that the cannabis was helping her get better. And she was off of all pharma—we started the cannabis oil in October, and she was off of all pharmaceuticals by the end of December.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And could you talk about the change, the frequency of the seizures previously, before you started this treatment, and what life is now like for your daughter and your family?
DARA LIGHTLE: Yeah. She had three days of video monitoring and testing at Johns Hopkins Hospital in the summer. During that time, we were actually told—and we didn’t know this—that 80 percent of her sleep was seizure activity. She was having so many seizures that she could not learn. She could not add. The neurologist put two fingers up and said, "What’s one plus one?" And she said, "Three." She couldn’t even add. And at this point she was eight years old. And she couldn’t read. She couldn’t do anything.
And so, basically, when she started the cannabis, it took some time. It was a little roller coaster. You know, there was periods of time where she would have more seizures, and there were periods of time where she was very cognitively clear, is the best way to show it. She was coming out of her shell. She had—starting to have a quality of life. It wasn’t until she was totally off the pharmaceuticals. Now she sleeps through the night. Her EEGs have drastically changed. From what they were to what they are now, it’s miraculous, because, like I said, she’s on no pharmaceuticals. She’s only on cannabis oil, and her EEGs have drastically changed. She reads now for the first time. She is able to add simple addition and subtraction for the first time. She wants to learn, and that’s huge, as well. So there’s a lot of positive changes, that we weren’t expecting. We were just expecting a decrease in seizures. We had no idea that we would see all the things that we’re seeing with her now.
AMY GOODMAN: Maddy, what does your medicine taste like?
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: Charlotte’s Web.
DARA LIGHTLE: What does it taste like?
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: Oil.
AMY GOODMAN: It just tastes like oil? And how do you feel living in Colorado? Have you made new friends? Do you miss your friends from home?
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: I made new friends. I miss my friends in Virginia where I used to live. And—but I also like my friends in Colorado.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Dara, this whole issue of having basically to uproot yourselves to go to another state to be able to have access to this kind of treatment, your thoughts on that?
DARA LIGHTLE: Not everybody can get up and just leave like we did. We were blessed to be able to do so, but there are so many families who can’t just get up and go. And we are happy to be here. We feel blessed that we are one of these pilot families to be able to be trying this out to show the world that this works. At the same time, the fact that we had to leave everything that we know, and people are stripped from their families in order to do this, is ridiculous. It’s ridiculous.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank—Maddy, I want to thank you for coming on. And, Dara, I’d like to ask you to stay when we bring Dave Philipps on, as well—
DARA LIGHTLE: Sure.
AMY GOODMAN: —the reporter who’s been following you and Maddy and other families who are doing—who have come to Colorado. How does it feel to be called a "marijuana refugee," Dara?
DARA LIGHTLE: In some ways it’s painful, and in some ways it’s a blessing. So it’s painful that we have—are stuck here, and we can’t go to Disneyland, we can’t go to a funeral, we can’t go to a wedding, if it’s out of state. But at the same time, it’s a blessing that we are able to do this oil, and it’s doing great things for our child.
AMY GOODMAN: Could you take the oil with you?
DARA LIGHTLE: No, it’s a Schedule I drug. It’s federally illegal. It’s legal here in Colorado, but we can’t leave the state.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Dara, stay with us. And, Maddy, thank you so much for coming on Democracy Now!
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: Sure.
AMY GOODMAN: Dara and Maddy Lightle are with us in Denver, Colorado. They can’t leave the state, because if they took the drug that Maddy is using now to prevent her seizures, marijuana, they would be arrested. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. We’ll continue with marijuana refugees in a moment.
Last year, Dara Lightle and her nine-year-old daughter, Madeleine, became "marijuana refugees" when they moved from Virginia to Colorado. At the time, Madeleine was suffering from hundreds of seizures a day. Her doctors in Virginia recommended brain surgery. Then Dara heard how cannabis oil had treated children suffering from similar conditions. The oil worked. But since the oil was considered an illegal drug in much of the country, they had to move to Colorado, where it is legal, to continue treatment. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, at least 115 "marijuana refugee families" from 43 states have left jobs, homes and family so they could obtain the cannabis oil to treat a variety of ailments. We speak to Dara and Madeleine in Denver.
TRANSCRIPT (This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form) -
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Today we look at marijuana refugees—people and families who have uprooted their lives and moved to Colorado with the hope of obtaining medical marijuana to treat various illnesses. Many are families with young children who suffer from epilepsy and relentless seizures. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, at least 115 marijuana refugee families from 43 states have left jobs, homes and the rest of their family so they could obtain oil made from a special strain of cannabis that have repeatedly quelled the seizures in a handful of kids in Colorado Springs.
AMY GOODMAN: The Colorado Springs Gazette recently published a piece about nine-year-old Madeleine Lightle and her mother Dara, who moved from Virginia to Colorado. In a moment, Madeleine and her mother will join us, but first let’s turn to this video about their story produced by the Colorado Springs Gazette.
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: Hi. My name is Madeleine.
DARA LIGHTLE: When I think of a child who has seizures, I think of a very low-functioning child. So, to see my high-functioning child and imagine her losing function was very scary. There was hope that she wouldn’t have any more, that that would be it, she would just have one. And then she had another one about a month later. And then it’s like you go through all those emotions again. You don’t know what’s going to happen. And, you know, earlier that year, I’d been wondering: Why can’t she do math anymore? You know, I’m trying to teach her the same grade over and over again, and nothing is sticking.
So, that’s when they told us that she was a candidate for brain surgery. What we didn’t know is that what they wanted to do was take out the entire left side of her brain. And to look at your daughter and imagine half of her brain being taken out, it was probably the hardest point in my life. It could make her better, or it could not. It could take away seizures, or it could not. Still, again, it was our only hope. It was our only hope.
This is when I saw a video about medical cannabis and how it could help with seizures. And it was about two weeks after that, that it was like: I think we need to move to Colorado; I think I need to bring Madeleine to Colorado. And then, within the next week, it was like: We’re moving, and we’re not coming back. It’s been six months. She began reading, she began writing, she began doing math—and remembering.
Yeah? Two plus two is?
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: Four.
DARA LIGHTLE: You got them all right, Madeleine!
Some days I just feel like: What a blessing that we were given this opportunity! I don’t feel worthy, but I do believe my daughter is worthy to have a chance at life and to live, and I’m so grateful that this simple oil from a plant is giving her that.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Dara Lightle in a video produced by the Colorado Springs Gazette. For more, we go to Denver, where we’re joined by Dara and her daughter Madeleine, or Maddy.
Thanks so much for driving in a couple hours from Colorado Springs to Denver for this conversation. Dara, why don’t you start off by talking about where Madeleine was born and when she had her first seizure?
DARA LIGHTLE: Well, Madeleine was born in 2004, and she actually was born prematurely and had a stroke in utero. And then, actually, we did not see any seizures until she was five years old. She had her first seizure when she—in 2010, in the summer of 2010. And we were actually not expecting it, even though she did have brain damage on the left side of her brain due to the stroke in utero. We thought, by that age, we would not see any seizures.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And once those initial seizures began, what kind of medications did you use at that point?
DARA LIGHTLE: We used pharmaceutical medications—Trileptal, I think, was one of the first, and Vimpat—started with, you know, low dosages, but she continued to have seizures. More were added on. Some were taken away because they were—had adverse effects, such as anger. We saw a lot of—she’s actually very—normally very calm and very sweet. We saw things in her like personality changes. And so they would take some away and add some more. And we would still continue to see issues, but we would have to deal with them because sometimes her seizures would stop for a time, and then her seizures would come back, and they would have to keep adding more medication on.
AMY GOODMAN: Maddy, thank you for coming in with your mother. It’s good to have you with us. Hi.
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: Hi.
DARA LIGHTLE: Say hi.
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: Hi.
AMY GOODMAN: Madeleine, Maddy, can you talk about how a seizure feels for you?
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: It feels, um, pretty not good, but I have—but I usually tell my mom that I’m having a seizure and that I have—that I have a good life with seizures and that this medication is helping me.
AMY GOODMAN: So, Dara, can you talk about what the—what that trajectory is from having gone through the seizures and then ultimately coming to Colorado, the drugs you used before and what you’re using now?
DARA LIGHTLE: Well, basically, last summer, the medications she was on, by the end of last summer, she was on three medications. Her emotions and—she was kind of like what I would call a zombie. She was a shell of a person. There were times where she couldn’t even find the bathroom in the house that she grew up in. And that’s how bad things were during that time. Whether that was from pharmaceuticals or seizures, we’re still unsure. I think that the pharmaceuticals actually exasperated her condition and made her worse. We decided—when we saw this video about medical marijuana and how it was helping children with seizures, we decided the best thing for Madeleine was that we needed to move out to Colorado. And my mother joined me out here in Colorado.
When we came out here and Madeleine started the medical cannabis, it was—as you heard in that video, it was—our only hope before was brain surgery, taking out the whole left side of her brain. And to look at my child and imagine taking out the left side of her brain is very difficult for any mother, for any parent to see that. So, when we heard that medical cannabis could help, at first it was scary, because you’re like, "Well, I don’t want my child getting stoned. I don’t want my child smoking pot." But once we realized that it really was an oil that is given—you know, was given to her at first three times a day sublingually, in her mouth, and that it wouldn’t get her high or anything like that, we slowly started to realize that actually the pharmaceuticals were making her high and that the cannabis was helping her get better. And she was off of all pharma—we started the cannabis oil in October, and she was off of all pharmaceuticals by the end of December.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And could you talk about the change, the frequency of the seizures previously, before you started this treatment, and what life is now like for your daughter and your family?
DARA LIGHTLE: Yeah. She had three days of video monitoring and testing at Johns Hopkins Hospital in the summer. During that time, we were actually told—and we didn’t know this—that 80 percent of her sleep was seizure activity. She was having so many seizures that she could not learn. She could not add. The neurologist put two fingers up and said, "What’s one plus one?" And she said, "Three." She couldn’t even add. And at this point she was eight years old. And she couldn’t read. She couldn’t do anything.
And so, basically, when she started the cannabis, it took some time. It was a little roller coaster. You know, there was periods of time where she would have more seizures, and there were periods of time where she was very cognitively clear, is the best way to show it. She was coming out of her shell. She had—starting to have a quality of life. It wasn’t until she was totally off the pharmaceuticals. Now she sleeps through the night. Her EEGs have drastically changed. From what they were to what they are now, it’s miraculous, because, like I said, she’s on no pharmaceuticals. She’s only on cannabis oil, and her EEGs have drastically changed. She reads now for the first time. She is able to add simple addition and subtraction for the first time. She wants to learn, and that’s huge, as well. So there’s a lot of positive changes, that we weren’t expecting. We were just expecting a decrease in seizures. We had no idea that we would see all the things that we’re seeing with her now.
AMY GOODMAN: Maddy, what does your medicine taste like?
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: Charlotte’s Web.
DARA LIGHTLE: What does it taste like?
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: Oil.
AMY GOODMAN: It just tastes like oil? And how do you feel living in Colorado? Have you made new friends? Do you miss your friends from home?
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: I made new friends. I miss my friends in Virginia where I used to live. And—but I also like my friends in Colorado.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Dara, this whole issue of having basically to uproot yourselves to go to another state to be able to have access to this kind of treatment, your thoughts on that?
DARA LIGHTLE: Not everybody can get up and just leave like we did. We were blessed to be able to do so, but there are so many families who can’t just get up and go. And we are happy to be here. We feel blessed that we are one of these pilot families to be able to be trying this out to show the world that this works. At the same time, the fact that we had to leave everything that we know, and people are stripped from their families in order to do this, is ridiculous. It’s ridiculous.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank—Maddy, I want to thank you for coming on. And, Dara, I’d like to ask you to stay when we bring Dave Philipps on, as well—
DARA LIGHTLE: Sure.
AMY GOODMAN: —the reporter who’s been following you and Maddy and other families who are doing—who have come to Colorado. How does it feel to be called a "marijuana refugee," Dara?
DARA LIGHTLE: In some ways it’s painful, and in some ways it’s a blessing. So it’s painful that we have—are stuck here, and we can’t go to Disneyland, we can’t go to a funeral, we can’t go to a wedding, if it’s out of state. But at the same time, it’s a blessing that we are able to do this oil, and it’s doing great things for our child.
AMY GOODMAN: Could you take the oil with you?
DARA LIGHTLE: No, it’s a Schedule I drug. It’s federally illegal. It’s legal here in Colorado, but we can’t leave the state.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Dara, stay with us. And, Maddy, thank you so much for coming on Democracy Now!
MADELEINE LIGHTLE: Sure.
AMY GOODMAN: Dara and Maddy Lightle are with us in Denver, Colorado. They can’t leave the state, because if they took the drug that Maddy is using now to prevent her seizures, marijuana, they would be arrested. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. We’ll continue with marijuana refugees in a moment.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Top 10 Pot Studies Government Wished it Had Never Funded
2006-08-31 from "freetheplant.com":
10) MARIJUANA USE HAS NO EFFECT ON MORTALITY: A massive study of California HMO members funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found marijuana use caused no significant increase in mortality. Tobacco use was associated with increased risk of death. Sidney, S et al. Marijuana Use and Mortality. American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 87 No. 4, April 1997. p. 585-590. Sept. 2002.
9) HEAVY MARIJUANA USE AS A YOUNG ADULT WON’T RUIN YOUR LIFE: Veterans Affairs scientists looked at whether heavy marijuana use as a young adult caused long-term problems later, studying identical twins in which one twin had been a heavy marijuana user for a year or longer but had stopped at least one month before the study, while the second twin had used marijuana no more than five times ever. Marijuana use had no significant impact on physical or mental health care utilization, health-related quality of life, or current socio-demographic characteristics. Eisen SE et al. Does Marijuana Use Have Residual Adverse Effects on Self-Reported Health Measures, Socio-Demographics or Quality of Life? A Monozygotic Co-Twin Control Study in Men. Addiction. Vol. 97 No. 9. p.1083-1086. Sept. 1997
8) THE "GATEWAY EFFECT" MAY BE A MIRAGE: Marijuana is often called a "gateway drug" by supporters of prohibition, who point to statistical "associations" indicating that persons who use marijuana are more likely to eventually try hard drugs than those who never use marijuana — implying that marijuana use somehow causes hard drug use. But a model developed by RAND Corp. researcher Andrew Morral demonstrates that these associations can be explained "without requiring a gateway effect." More likely, this federally funded study suggests, some people simply have an underlying propensity to try drugs, and start with what’s most readily available. Morral AR, McCaffrey D and Paddock S. Reassessing the Marijuana Gateway Effect. Addiction. December 2002. p. 1493-1504.
7) PROHIBITION DOESN’T WORK (PART I): The White House had the National Research Council examine the data being gathered about drug use and the effects of U.S. drug policies. NRC concluded, "the nation possesses little information about the effectiveness of current drug policy, especially of drug law enforcement." And what data exist show "little apparent relationship between severity of sanctions prescribed for drug use and prevalence or frequency of use." In other words, there is no proof that prohibition — the cornerstone of U.S. drug policy for a century — reduces drug use. National Research Council. Informing America’s Policy on Illegal Drugs: What We Don’t Know Keeps Hurting Us. National Academy Press, 2001. p. 193.
6) PROHIBITION DOESN’T WORK (PART II: DOES PROHIBITION CAUSE THE "GATEWAY EFFECT"?): U.S. and Dutch researchers, supported in part by NIDA, compared marijuana users in San Francisco, where non-medical use remains illegal, to Amsterdam, where adults may possess and purchase small amounts of marijuana from regulated businesses. Looking at such parameters as frequency and quantity of use and age at onset of use, they found no differences except one: Lifetime use of hard drugs was significantly lower in Amsterdam, with its "tolerant" marijuana policies. For example, lifetime crack cocaine use was 4.5 times higher in San Francisco than Amsterdam. Reinarman, C, Cohen, PDA, and Kaal, HL. The Limited Relevance of Drug Policy: Cannabis in Amsterdam and San Francisco. American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 94, No. 5. May 2004. p. 836-842.
5) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART I): Federal researchers implanted several types of cancer, including leukemia and lung cancers, in mice, then treated them with cannabinoids (unique, active components found in marijuana). THC and other cannabinoids shrank tumors and increased the mice’s lifespans. Munson, AE et al. Antineoplastic Activity of Cannabinoids. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Sept. 1975. p. 597-602.
4) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER, (PART II): In a 1994 study the government tried to suppress, federal researchers gave mice and rats massive doses of THC, looking for cancers or other signs of toxicity. The rodents given THC lived longer and had fewer cancers, "in a dose-dependent manner" (i.e. the more THC they got, the fewer tumors). NTP Technical Report On The Toxicology And Carcinogenesis Studies Of 1-Trans- Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, CAS No. 1972-08-3, In F344/N Rats And B6C3F(1) Mice, Gavage Studies. See also, "Medical Marijuana: Unpublished Federal Study Found THC-Treated Rats Lived Longer, Had Less Cancer," AIDS Treatment News no. 263, Jan. 17, 1997.
3) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART III): Researchers at the Kaiser-Permanente HMO, funded by NIDA, followed 65,000 patients for nearly a decade, comparing cancer rates among non-smokers, tobacco smokers, and marijuana smokers. Tobacco smokers had massively higher rates of lung cancer and other cancers. Marijuana smokers who didn’t also use tobacco had no increase in risk of tobacco-related cancers or of cancer risk overall. In fact their rates of lung and most other cancers were slightly lower than non-smokers, though the difference did not reach statistical significance. Sidney, S. et al. Marijuana Use and Cancer Incidence (California, United States). Cancer Causes and Control. Vol. 8. Sept. 1997, p. 722-728.
2) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART IV): Donald Tashkin, a UCLA researcher whose work is funded by NIDA, did a case-control study comparing 1,200 patients with lung, head and neck cancers to a matched group with no cancer. Even the heaviest marijuana smokers had no increased risk of cancer, and had somewhat lower cancer risk than non-smokers (tobacco smokers had a 20-fold increased lung cancer risk). Tashkin D. Marijuana Use and Lung Cancer: Results of a Case-Control Study. American Thoracic Society International Conference. May 23, 2006.
1) MARIJUANA DOES HAVE MEDICAL VALUE: In response to passage of California’s medical marijuana law, the White House had the Institute of Medicine (IOM) review the data on marijuana’s medical benefits and risks. The IOM concluded, "Nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting, and all can be mitigated by marijuana." While noting potential risks of smoking, the report added, "we acknowledge that there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting." The government’s refusal to acknowledge this finding caused co-author John A. Benson to tell the New York Times that the government "loves to ignore our report … they would rather it never happened." Joy, JE, Watson, SJ, and Benson, JA. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. National Academy Press. 1999. p. 159. See also, Harris, G. FDA Dismisses Medical Benefit From Marijuana. New York Times. Apr. 21, 2006
10) MARIJUANA USE HAS NO EFFECT ON MORTALITY: A massive study of California HMO members funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found marijuana use caused no significant increase in mortality. Tobacco use was associated with increased risk of death. Sidney, S et al. Marijuana Use and Mortality. American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 87 No. 4, April 1997. p. 585-590. Sept. 2002.
9) HEAVY MARIJUANA USE AS A YOUNG ADULT WON’T RUIN YOUR LIFE: Veterans Affairs scientists looked at whether heavy marijuana use as a young adult caused long-term problems later, studying identical twins in which one twin had been a heavy marijuana user for a year or longer but had stopped at least one month before the study, while the second twin had used marijuana no more than five times ever. Marijuana use had no significant impact on physical or mental health care utilization, health-related quality of life, or current socio-demographic characteristics. Eisen SE et al. Does Marijuana Use Have Residual Adverse Effects on Self-Reported Health Measures, Socio-Demographics or Quality of Life? A Monozygotic Co-Twin Control Study in Men. Addiction. Vol. 97 No. 9. p.1083-1086. Sept. 1997
8) THE "GATEWAY EFFECT" MAY BE A MIRAGE: Marijuana is often called a "gateway drug" by supporters of prohibition, who point to statistical "associations" indicating that persons who use marijuana are more likely to eventually try hard drugs than those who never use marijuana — implying that marijuana use somehow causes hard drug use. But a model developed by RAND Corp. researcher Andrew Morral demonstrates that these associations can be explained "without requiring a gateway effect." More likely, this federally funded study suggests, some people simply have an underlying propensity to try drugs, and start with what’s most readily available. Morral AR, McCaffrey D and Paddock S. Reassessing the Marijuana Gateway Effect. Addiction. December 2002. p. 1493-1504.
7) PROHIBITION DOESN’T WORK (PART I): The White House had the National Research Council examine the data being gathered about drug use and the effects of U.S. drug policies. NRC concluded, "the nation possesses little information about the effectiveness of current drug policy, especially of drug law enforcement." And what data exist show "little apparent relationship between severity of sanctions prescribed for drug use and prevalence or frequency of use." In other words, there is no proof that prohibition — the cornerstone of U.S. drug policy for a century — reduces drug use. National Research Council. Informing America’s Policy on Illegal Drugs: What We Don’t Know Keeps Hurting Us. National Academy Press, 2001. p. 193.
6) PROHIBITION DOESN’T WORK (PART II: DOES PROHIBITION CAUSE THE "GATEWAY EFFECT"?): U.S. and Dutch researchers, supported in part by NIDA, compared marijuana users in San Francisco, where non-medical use remains illegal, to Amsterdam, where adults may possess and purchase small amounts of marijuana from regulated businesses. Looking at such parameters as frequency and quantity of use and age at onset of use, they found no differences except one: Lifetime use of hard drugs was significantly lower in Amsterdam, with its "tolerant" marijuana policies. For example, lifetime crack cocaine use was 4.5 times higher in San Francisco than Amsterdam. Reinarman, C, Cohen, PDA, and Kaal, HL. The Limited Relevance of Drug Policy: Cannabis in Amsterdam and San Francisco. American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 94, No. 5. May 2004. p. 836-842.
5) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART I): Federal researchers implanted several types of cancer, including leukemia and lung cancers, in mice, then treated them with cannabinoids (unique, active components found in marijuana). THC and other cannabinoids shrank tumors and increased the mice’s lifespans. Munson, AE et al. Antineoplastic Activity of Cannabinoids. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Sept. 1975. p. 597-602.
4) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER, (PART II): In a 1994 study the government tried to suppress, federal researchers gave mice and rats massive doses of THC, looking for cancers or other signs of toxicity. The rodents given THC lived longer and had fewer cancers, "in a dose-dependent manner" (i.e. the more THC they got, the fewer tumors). NTP Technical Report On The Toxicology And Carcinogenesis Studies Of 1-Trans- Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, CAS No. 1972-08-3, In F344/N Rats And B6C3F(1) Mice, Gavage Studies. See also, "Medical Marijuana: Unpublished Federal Study Found THC-Treated Rats Lived Longer, Had Less Cancer," AIDS Treatment News no. 263, Jan. 17, 1997.
3) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART III): Researchers at the Kaiser-Permanente HMO, funded by NIDA, followed 65,000 patients for nearly a decade, comparing cancer rates among non-smokers, tobacco smokers, and marijuana smokers. Tobacco smokers had massively higher rates of lung cancer and other cancers. Marijuana smokers who didn’t also use tobacco had no increase in risk of tobacco-related cancers or of cancer risk overall. In fact their rates of lung and most other cancers were slightly lower than non-smokers, though the difference did not reach statistical significance. Sidney, S. et al. Marijuana Use and Cancer Incidence (California, United States). Cancer Causes and Control. Vol. 8. Sept. 1997, p. 722-728.
2) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART IV): Donald Tashkin, a UCLA researcher whose work is funded by NIDA, did a case-control study comparing 1,200 patients with lung, head and neck cancers to a matched group with no cancer. Even the heaviest marijuana smokers had no increased risk of cancer, and had somewhat lower cancer risk than non-smokers (tobacco smokers had a 20-fold increased lung cancer risk). Tashkin D. Marijuana Use and Lung Cancer: Results of a Case-Control Study. American Thoracic Society International Conference. May 23, 2006.
1) MARIJUANA DOES HAVE MEDICAL VALUE: In response to passage of California’s medical marijuana law, the White House had the Institute of Medicine (IOM) review the data on marijuana’s medical benefits and risks. The IOM concluded, "Nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting, and all can be mitigated by marijuana." While noting potential risks of smoking, the report added, "we acknowledge that there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting." The government’s refusal to acknowledge this finding caused co-author John A. Benson to tell the New York Times that the government "loves to ignore our report … they would rather it never happened." Joy, JE, Watson, SJ, and Benson, JA. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. National Academy Press. 1999. p. 159. See also, Harris, G. FDA Dismisses Medical Benefit From Marijuana. New York Times. Apr. 21, 2006
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Friday, December 6, 2013
Educate City Hall about medicinal cannabis, prevent an unwarranted crack-down!!
A Medical Cannabis Ordinance is being considered by the Planning Commission of the City of Vallejo, threatening to "crack down" on legal medicinal cannabis dispensaries.
“Future Planning Items for Consideration”, from the report for the Economic Development Department - Planning Division, published in the “City Manager’s Bi-Weekly Report”, Volume 2, Issue 4, December 6, 2013, from Daniel E. Keen, City Manager, City of Vallejo:
The list of agenda items is used exclusively by City staff as a draft working document for planning and tentative scheduling of agenda related items and does not represent any final dates for placement and presentation to the legislative body (Planning Commission and City Council). The list provided is an abbreviated version including only the most significant items. The list is subject to change by staff and may not represent all items that eventually will appear on any given final meeting agenda.
Planning Commission Agenda Item
December 17, 2013 (Special Meeting): Medical Cannabis Study Session
January 22, 2014: Medical Cannabis Ordinance
---
Yet, in the same report, they tell how they approved more ALCOHOL establishments across downtown Vallejo, the waterfront, and Mare Island.
“Brewpub Approved for Vacant Ferry Building Space”
The Planning Commission recently voted to approve a Use Permit to allow the Mare Island Brewing Company, LLC to operate a brewpub/microbrewery, tasting room and restaurant within the City owned Ferry Building on the waterfront. The project involves use of the vacant tenant space in the west rotunda and includes indoor seating, an outdoor patio area next to the waterfront promenade, and seating on the second story observation deck.
Depending on demand, business hours will vary between 10:00 am to 1:00 am, seven days per week. Along with a minimal amount of beer production on-site, the business intends to provide a limited menu of gourmet appetizers and entrees. The owner anticipates having four employees initially and may employ additional staff as business expands. The project is a result of the 2012-2013 Council adopted code and plan amendments to allow these businesses in the Downtown, the Waterfront and on Mare Island
“Future Planning Items for Consideration”, from the report for the Economic Development Department - Planning Division, published in the “City Manager’s Bi-Weekly Report”, Volume 2, Issue 4, December 6, 2013, from Daniel E. Keen, City Manager, City of Vallejo:
The list of agenda items is used exclusively by City staff as a draft working document for planning and tentative scheduling of agenda related items and does not represent any final dates for placement and presentation to the legislative body (Planning Commission and City Council). The list provided is an abbreviated version including only the most significant items. The list is subject to change by staff and may not represent all items that eventually will appear on any given final meeting agenda.
Planning Commission Agenda Item
December 17, 2013 (Special Meeting): Medical Cannabis Study Session
January 22, 2014: Medical Cannabis Ordinance
---
Yet, in the same report, they tell how they approved more ALCOHOL establishments across downtown Vallejo, the waterfront, and Mare Island.
“Brewpub Approved for Vacant Ferry Building Space”
The Planning Commission recently voted to approve a Use Permit to allow the Mare Island Brewing Company, LLC to operate a brewpub/microbrewery, tasting room and restaurant within the City owned Ferry Building on the waterfront. The project involves use of the vacant tenant space in the west rotunda and includes indoor seating, an outdoor patio area next to the waterfront promenade, and seating on the second story observation deck.
Depending on demand, business hours will vary between 10:00 am to 1:00 am, seven days per week. Along with a minimal amount of beer production on-site, the business intends to provide a limited menu of gourmet appetizers and entrees. The owner anticipates having four employees initially and may employ additional staff as business expands. The project is a result of the 2012-2013 Council adopted code and plan amendments to allow these businesses in the Downtown, the Waterfront and on Mare Island
Monday, December 2, 2013
Uses for High-Cannabidiol Cannabis Extracts
"The Use of High-Cannabidiol Cannabis Extracts to Treat Epilepsy and Other Diseases"
2013-11-25 by Justin Kander, posted to [http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Use-of-High-Cannabidiol-Cannabis-Extracts-to-Treat-Epilepsy-and-Other-Diseases&id=8142665]:
There has been a dramatic rise in news attention to medicinal cannabis in 2013, with reports on CNN, ABC, CBS, and local publications about high-cannabidiol cannabis oil effectively controlling the symptoms of rare epileptic conditions like Dravet syndrome, Doose syndrome, infantile spasms, cortical dysplasia, and more. These diseases can cause hundreds to thousands of seizures a week, while also impairing development in a number of other ways. For families with children suffering from such conditions, the challenges are overwhelming. Due to the extremely complex nature of Dravet and related syndromes, traditional pharmaceuticals are ineffective and often make the problems worse. With no other hope, families have turned to high-CBD cannabis oil, which is proving to work with miraculous efficacy.
To clarify, high-CBD cannabis oil is non-psychoactive and apparently even more beneficial than high-THC cannabis oil. Cannabidiol is another cannabinoid in the cannabis plant, like the more well-known psychoactive cannabinoid THC, with significant research suggesting neuroprotectant, anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-ischemic, antispasmodic, antipsychotic, and antibacterial properties, among others. Furthermore, cannabis oil is a type of extract from cannabis. Such oil contains large amounts of concentrated cannabinoids that can be orally ingested rather than smoked, preserving the medicinal compounds and allowing them to be delivered through digestive system, rather than the respiratory system.
The research suggests that CBD has panacea-like properties, and in practice, this is proving to be the case. On August 11th, 2013, Sanjay Gupta released a documentary on CNN about Charlotte Figi. Charlotte is a young Dravet syndrome patient who was having 300 grand mal seizures a week. No pharmaceuticals or dietary changes could do anything to reduce this number. Charlotte's parents learned about high-CBD cannabis oil, and after literally the first dose, Charlotte's seizures stopped. She now has less than three minor seizures a month. This case is nothing short of miraculous, and it's not isolated. Dr. Margaret Gedde, a Colorado Springs physician, is tracking 11 new patients of the Stanely brothers, the providers of Charlotte's high-CBD medicine. 9 of them have had 90-100% reductions in seizures, which again, is simply miraculous.
The epileptic conditions that CBD is proving to be effective against are extremely complex, and not even the most powerful, well researched pharmaceuticals have been capable of inducing any healing. Yet high-CBD cannabis oil is immediately and potently reducing symptoms, with the only side effects being systemically beneficial - more energy, better learning, improved behavior, and more.
It should not be surprising that results like these have been going on for years. Just like research shows cannabinoids are therapeutically effective against epilepsy, there is research suggesting they can eliminate cancers and control other serious diseases. And in practice, for epilepsy and these other conditions, the results are translating to humans. People have been reliably eliminating cancers for years and mitigating diseases like diabetes, Crohn's, fibromyalgia, heart disease, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, and more. This is as serious as it gets, and more attention must be brought to this issue.
As you can see, the use of medicinal cannabis is extremely important. This isn't about alleviating the side effects of chemotherapy or improving appetite - this is about putting serious diseases into remission, eliminating cancer in humans, and improving all aspects of human health. To see the scientific and experiential evidence supporting this, including medical documentation of terminal cancer patients now in remission, visit CannabisExtractReport.com.
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