By Jennifer Janichek* Medical marijuana patients often face stig- ma, alienation, and rejection in convention- al mental health and addiction frame- works. A majority of clinical service providers tend to deny the therapeutic benefits and potential of cannabis.

The Clinical Services Program at the Harborside Health Center (HHC) holistic care clinic provides a therapeutic and com- passionate space for patients who seek non-judgmental, evidence-based substance use, misuse, addiction and mental health services. Harm reduction strategies, educa- tion and information dissemination, skill building, and therapeutic and peer sup- ports merge to ground the various clinical services that are offered to HHC patients.

The program’s tenets are deeply based on individualism, self determination, and human rights. To create a patient-driven program and provide services that patients desire, over 300 surveys were conducted. Findings show that a large proportion of HHC patients would like to participate in free clinical services. The information col- lected helped

Read More: Recovery program integrates cannabis therapies

By Chris Ryan Industrial Hemp is being successfully grown on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and used for insulation, and as fiber chaff for adobe. Some is turned into paper.

The founder of the industrial hemp project is Alex White Plume, American Indian and former Vice President of the Oglala Sioux Nation. He’s been growing hemp for several years. The Oglala Sioux suffer from 85 percent unemployment. Jobs and homes are needed desperately. Most have no running water or electricity in their homes.

White Plume seeks to overcome this by developing industrial hemp as an agricul- tural resource. He started his program to create jobs for his family and tribe. Much of Pine Ridge has farming on it, but only one- third of the monies generated goes to the tribe. When he realized that market prices for hemp were higher than those for other crops, he decided to try growing some to generate

Read More: Nature grows hemp the US government forbids Alex White Plume to plant

By Amanda Reiman, MSW PhD Concern exists over the long-term effects of prescription drug use among those with chronic illness. Regular prescription drug use over extended periods of time can increase the likelihood of drug depend- ence, contribute to complications in organ functioning, and potentially interact with other medications. Cannabis patients suf- fer both chronic and acute illnesses. Do patients with chronic illness report differ- ent use patterns than those without it?

Anonymous surveys were adminis- tered to 350 patients at Berkeley Patients Group (BPG), a social-model dispensary in Berkeley, CA. Participants were asked to indicate if they had a chronic illness. Additional data were collected on frequen- cy of use, frequency of visits to BPG, amount used per week, preferred method of ingestion, and use of other treatments along with cannabis. Chi-Square tests were run to determine differences in use pat- terns between those with and without chronic illness.

Sixty eight

Read More: Chronic pain patients show more frequent use

Growers Supply has a new Ponic 2-Tier System kit that
allows the user to grow hydroponically and aeroponically. The kit supplies everything needed to
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air diffusers, pumps, growing media, greenhouses and high tunnels. For info call 1-800-476-9715
or visit growerssupply.com. Photo courtesy of FarmTek.

By Samuel Janovici Summer signals a most important turning point. It tells our crop that it’s time to bloom. By now outdoor growers are com- mitted to a direction, and their attention turns to nutrients, disease prevention, predators and security. Now is the time to practice that most important virtue – patience.

Indoor growers may know that Canna Coco is an environmentally-friendly, reusable, and organic growth medium made from shredded and refined coconut husks. Salts normally found in the husks are removed and the result is a loamy, rich product that allows roots an opportunity to flourish without restriction. This fiber-free medium is also virus- and mold- free when treated with Tricoderma, a bio-control agent that helps fight fungal and soil dis- eases without using toxins.

With the right combination of nutrients Coco can replace soil as a safe and effective way to grow. Indoor it’s safer and saner than rock wool,

Read More: The joys of gardening — go crazy for Coco

By Angela Fairless

Nearly 400 patients, care-givers, and growers came together from around the state for a banquet and awards ceremony when Oregon Green Free (OGF) hosted its Sixth Annual Oregon Care Growers Cup April 3 in Gresham.

The information is put into a Strain-to-Ailment database that OGF members can access to help learn which strains are best suited for their needs.

The Coalition for Patients Rights 2010 raised over $500 at this event for Initiative- 28, which would create a regulated nonprofit dispensary system, start a program to help the poorest patients obtain medicine, and enable scientific research.

Over the 30 days leading up to ‘The Cup,’ 60 patients tested various strains and hash from certified growers in the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program. Organizers made sure that patients selected to be judges had a variety of ailments and illness and filled out paperwork for every sample tested. The information is put into a

Read More: Oregon cup boosts ballot

By Phil Smith DRC Net

The Iowa Board of Pharmacy voted unanimously Feb. 17 to recommend that state lawmakers reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II controlled substance and set up a task force to study how to create a medical marijuana program. Medical marijuana bills have previously failed to move in the state legislature, but the board’s action could help spur forward momentum.

Similarly to the federal Controlled Substances Act, Iowa law classifies cannabis as a Schedule I drug with no proven medical use and a high potential for abuse. By recommending that it be rescheduled to Schedule II — potential for abuse, but with accepted medical use — the board acknowledged the herb’s medical efficacy.

Given the board’s initial reluctance to take up the issue, the unanimous vote comes as something as a pleasant surprise to advocates. In May 2008, Iowans for Medical Marijuana founder Carl Olsen petitioned the board to reschedule

Read More: Iowa Board shifts stance

Ask the Cannabis Doctor By David G. Ostrow, MD, PhD

What’s in a name — especially when it is cannabis v. marihuana?

Dr. David Bearman tells an interesting anecdote in his new book about the politics of drug policy in the US. Apparently, when the government first decided that smoked cannabis was a dangerous drug, it had to convince people that the stuff the Mexican migrant workers, jazz musicians, homosexuals and such used was different from the cannabis in dozens of popular over-thecounter tonics sold by prominent US drug companies as ‘patent’ medicines to relieve pain, depression, etc. They made up a new name, ‘marihuana,’ and outlawed its use, never refering to the sale of cannabis in patent medicines. Which brings the Dr. to this week’s question.

Q. Reader CC asks: Over the past year or so, I have

Read More: Wine plus weed can wipe people out

By Amanda Reiman

Whether choosing Tylenol over ibuprofen or Zoloft over Prozac, people are making decisions about their health based on which substances give the best results with the fewest unwanted consequences. “Drug substitution” exists in the world of nonmedical drugs as well. When considering alcohol, it is common to hear a person choose beer because ‘hard alcohol does not agree with me.’

Substances such as cocaine, ecstasy and heroin have been found to be psychoactive and economic substitutes among those who use them [1-3]. The decision to substitute one drug for another can be driven by issues of effectiveness, cost, accessibility, legal sanctions and unwanted consequences [4]. Not surprisingly, many cannabis patients report that they use cannabis as a substitute for alcohol, prescription, and illicit drugs. A 2008 study at Berkeley Patient’s Group in California looked at this practice.

A sampling of 350 patients was surveyed anonymously and asked about their demographic

Read More: Report finds cannabis use replacing more harmful drugs