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Flurry of Court Rulings Boost Medical Rights
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California High Court Stands by State Law to Return Medical Marijuana
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San Francisco Adopts Medical Marijuana Sanctuary Ordinance
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By Martin Williams
The nation’s largest medical marijuana patient advocacy group, Americans for Safe Access (ASA), filed a petition with the federal court of appeals March 22 in its epic battle to force the federal government to comply with its own laws on medical marijuana.
The UN drug control treaties authorizes nations to allow the medical use of cannabis and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is required to move the plant out of its banned status, Schedule 1, if it has accepted medical use. Currently 18 states and thousands of studies agree that it has medical value and is wrongly prohibited.
In its widely watched case that seeks to reclassify marijuana for medical use, ASA v. DEA, the patient group seeks a rehearing before the original panel, as well as seeking full (en banc) review by the US Court of Appeals for the Washington DC Circuit. The circuit
Read More: Patients battle federal cannabis ban in appeals court
By Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
California medical marijuana patient Daisy Brant has had her infant child literally torn from her breast twice to be handed over to Child Protective Services and been charged with child abuse because police found medical marijuana growing in her home. She won the first case, got her child back, was raided again and is now fighting the second case as a new published study shows how wrong and cruel the police have been in this and other cases in what amounts to little more than what Brant has called “government-sanctioned child-stealing.”
“The role of child protection in grow-operations,” a study in the March 2013 International Journal of Drug Policy, shows that children who live in homes where marijuana is being cultivated do not suffer from adverse health effects at any greater rate than do comparable children in cannabis-free environments.
A pair of investigators
Read More: Study: Home marijuana gardens not a health risk for children
Legal consultant and cannabis expert witness Chris Conrad, author of Cannabis Yields and Dosage, offers advice and professional services for court cases, sometimes paid by a county’s indigent defense fund. Info at chrisconrad.com.
As the West Coast Leaf goes on hiatus, as announced in our previous issue, we would like to again thank our writers, advertisers, subscribers and helpers for making it possible for us to publish “the cannabis newspaper of record.”
These past five years have been among the most exciting in the history of reform, and we are glad to have played a role in informing and inspiring people to create change. See WestCoastLeaf.com as to our future plans
By Chris VanHook, Esq., cleangreencert.com
From pre-planning to final preparation, the world of cannabis cultivation saw many technological advances in 2012.
One of the most important was the development of the ozone machine, which aids the grower in cleaning indoor grow rooms between cycles. This step, often neglected by growers, is important for the control of molds, mildews and spider mites.Ozone machines sanitize the air and surface areas more effectively than liquid cleaners, because their emissions permeate the room’s cracks and crevices to kill unwanted bacteria and pathogens.
Once the grow room has been prepped,it can be powered by a new grid developed by Grean Bicycles Research Lab. Their new digital switches control a grow room’s climate while requiring 75% less energy than standard 120/240 volt mechanical timers.The Northern California-based laboratory also developed a passive cooling system which ducts outside air over the room’s lights and carries their heat
Read More: Growers learning new tricks for better output
By Paul Armentano, norml.org
Adults with a history of marijuana use have a lower prevalence of type 2 diabetes and a lower risk of contracting the disease than non-users, according to clinical trial data published Feb. 24, 2012 in the British Medical Journal.
Scientists at University of California, Los Angeles assessed the association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and marijuana use in 10,896 US adults aged 20 to 59, split into four groups: non-users (61.0%), past users (30.7%), light users, 1-4 times/month (5.0%) and heavy, 5+ times/month current users (3.3%). Diabetes was defined based on self-reporting or abnormal glycemic parameters.
The UCLA investigators reported that past and present cannabis consumers had a lower prevalence of diabetes, as adjusted for other variables (ethnicity, level of physical activity, etc.) and family history of DM, and found no association between cannabis and hypertension, stroke, myocardial infarction (heart attack), or heart failure. They hypothesized
Read More: Study: Cannabis may lower diabetes risk
By John Dvorak, hempology.org
The first things that draws your attention to the art of Georgia Peschel, aka Georgia Toons, are her positive attitude, mischievously ribald nature and unabashed devotion to cannabis hemp.
Toons approaches cannabis prohibition with the watchful eye of a caring mother, the fervor of an ardent activist and the understanding of a patient. Others draw strength from her drawings, as she draws from all aspects of cannabis including industrial hemp. She sees cannabis prohibition as the kaleidoscopic issue that it is, drawing many unique, brightly colored images, each illustrating her delightfully offbeat yet poignant opinion.
She draws strength from her son, Storm, born with multiple synostosis syndrome, an extremely rare and painful condition that caused his young bones to fuse together. Storm cried in almost constant pain over years of trial and error with many different approaches including the use of debilitating pharmaceuticals. Peschel
Read More: Drawing strength from ill son, mom uses Toons to send message
By Paul Armentano, norml.org
Cannabis inhalation is associated with significantly reduced incidences of convulsions in a pair of epileptic patients, according to an upcoming case report in the journal Epilepsy & Behavior.*
Investigators at University of California Epilepsy Center summarized the case histories of a 43-year-old subject and a 60-year-old subject, both of whom suffered from severe epileptic seizures. Neither had responded favorably to conventional anticonvulsant treatments.
In the first subject, cannabis inhalation reportedly reduced the frequency of nighttime seizures from an average of five to six per evening to an average of one to two. After stopping cannabis use, the subject experienced 10 evening seizures. After dosing with oral cannabis, the subject subsequently reported only a single nighttime seizure.
The second subject reported inhaling six to eight cigarettes daily. Upon cessation of his cannabis use, the subject experienced five seizures in a 12-hour period.
Authors concluded, “These
Read More: Report: Inhaled cannabis quells epileptics’ convulsions
By Martin Williams
A study published Nov. 20, 2012 in the Journal of Addiction Research and Theory adds more evidence that cannabis may be a safer substitute for alcohol, illicit substances and pharmaceuticals. The community-based research, which took place at four Canadian dispensaries (three in Vancouver and one in Victoria), saw cannabis patients answer a 44-question anonymous survey to gather data on the self-reported impact of cannabis on the use of other substances.
The results support previous findings by co-researcher Amanda Reiman and others on ‘cannabis-substitution effect,’ the conscious and subconscious use of cannabis in place of other substances. Over 41% stated that they use it as a substitute for alcohol; 36.1% use it as a substitute for illicit substances; and 67.8% use it as a substitute for prescription drugs. The three main reasons cited for cannabis-related substitution are ‘’less withdrawal’’ 67.7%, ‘’fewer side-effects’’ 60.4% and ‘’better symptom management,’’
Read More: Cannabis; the Exit Drug
ASA Submits Brief on Patients’ Right to Sue in Landmark Federal Case DC Court hears rescheduling appeal, requests more info
By William Dolphin, americansforsafeaccess.com
The federal appeals court for the DC Circuit heard oral arguments Oct. 16, 2012 in Americans for Safe Access v Drug Enforcement Administration (ASA v DEA), a legal challenge to the government’s contention that cannabis has no medical use.
The panel of three federal judges focused on the question of legal standing, whether the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit have been directly injured by the government’s classification of cannabis. Following oral arguments, the court requested additional briefing on the harm sustained by one plaintiff in the case, US Air Force veteran Michael Krawitz.
“The court’s request for clarification is a sign that this case is being taken very seriously,” said ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford, who argued the case. “The current classification of cannabis is
Read More: Federal ban on trial in DC court
By Samuel Janovici
After decades of work trying to perfect endless varieties and cultivars, 2012 brought cannabis to the crossroads of legalization — and all that labor growers have put into identifying and establishing their plant’s genetic stability is at risk.
Good medicine comes from great strains, and there is an endless list of them out there, yet we have no system in place to protect them. As commercial interests flood the market, many strains will become extinct as did the once-common Acapulco Gold, Santa Marta Blond and Thai Sticks that survive as brands in name only. It would be criminal if Purple Kush, Jack Herer or Sour Diesel were to be lost or abridged by those with the big money.
Like avocados, peaches and apples, cannabis needs a reliable system to codify and guarantee that when a grower says it is Afghani, it really is, and that these
Read More: Strains, cultivars, the future
By Ethan Ash, maps.org
The University of Arizona (UA) Internal Review Board (IRB) informed researchers at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Oct. 25, 2011 that it had approved their protocol for a study treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 50 US veterans. The IRB joins the Food and Drug Administration in approving the marijuana study, increasing pressure on other federal agencies to let it move forward.
Getting IRB approval is vital for MAPS and UA psychiatrist Dr. Sue Sisley’s research. Despite its April 2011 approval by the Food and Drug Admin. (FDA), the National Institute on Drug Abuse has refused to provide the cannabis necessary to implement the study. One reason cited by NIDA was the lack of IRB approval, so researchers are now re-submitting their proposal to NIDA.
The federal government uses the agency as one of its major obstacles to hamper privately funded research on
Read More: NIDA running out of excuses to block PTSD study
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National Cannabis Industry Association’s 2nd Anniversary Gala
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So long for now and thanks for reading WCL
As the West Coast Leaf goes on hiatus, as announced in our previous issue, we would like to again thank our writers, advertisers, subscribers and helpers for making it possible for us to publish “the cannabis newspaper of record.”
These past five years have been among the most exciting in the history of reform, and we are glad to have played a role in informing and inspiring people to create change. See WestCoastLeaf.com as to our future plans