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Medical Marijuana
Drug Reform News

Photo Courtesy Vaults of Erowid

"Any drug that causes euphoria and diminishes anxiety can cause dependence, and cannabis is no exception. However, heavy use and complaints of inability to stop are unusual. Cannabis can be used episodically without evidence of social or psychologic dysfunction. The term dependence probably is misapplied to many users. No withdrawal syndrome occurs when the drug is discontinued, but some heavy users report disrupted sleep and nervousness when they stop..."

"...The number of users who have sought treatment or counseling to help them stop may be exaggerated because persons who test positive in the workplace are often ordered to seek treatment, then followed with compulsory testing..."

"...Dronabinol, a synthetic form of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (the principal active constituent of marijuana), is used to treat nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy and to enhance appetite in AIDS patients. This form does not appear on the street..."

The Merck Manual

American Medical Marijuana Association - "Defending the rights of seriously ill Americans."

Big Brother is Watching: - PLACER COUNTY INVESTIGATION OF STEVE AND MICHELE KUBBY. Read how narcotics officers peeked through the Kubbys' windows, listened through their bedroom wall, and snooped through garbage to investigate an unsigned letter.

"(Attorney General) Lockyer has refused to intervene in the obviously selective and politically-motivated prosecution of former Libertarian Party gubernatorial candidate Steve Kubby by Placer County officials. In fact, the AG's office has provided expert witnesses to the local prosecutors. Kubby credits marijuana with keeping him from dying of adrenal cancer years ago, and his doctor from more than 20 years ago agrees and will testify to that effect. Kubby had a recommendation from a licensed doctor, just as Prop. 215 specifies, and grew marijuana plants in his home near Lake Tahoe. Prosecutors allege he was growing to sell based on the number of plants they confiscated, but produced no evidence of any sales in preliminary phases of the trial." --Alan Bock, Liberty Magazine

On March 2, 2001, Steve Kubby won a dismissal on all marijuana charges, but was convicted of misdemeanor possession of a mushroom stem and some tiny cactus buttons. For these minor offenses, the former Libertarian candidate for governor was sentenced to three years formal probation, 120 days of house arrest with electronic monitoring, and fines of several thousand dollars. Now Steve is publicly refusing to serve a single day of probation or pay a dollar in fines , "because of my profound belief that the threat of jail is being held over my head to coerce me into voluntary compliance with a criminal justice system that is broken ."

Peter McWilliams R.I.P. - "PETER McWILLIAMS has been writing about his passions since 1967. In that year, he became passionate about what most seventeen-year-olds are passionate about—love—and wrote Come Love With Me & Be My Life. This began a series of poetry books which have sold nearly four million copies."

Legalising Cannabis: A Potted History - overview of decriminaliztion efforts in the UK. From the BBC.

Let Them Smoke pot - special report from New Scientist magazine.

Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative - ordered to close by a federal judge.

Patients Out of Time - recognizes the need for some patients to be accorded the compassion and dignity to alleviate their pain, sickness and suffering by using a natural plant, Cannabis, under a doctor's care.

George McMahon - The 5th Person, in the United States, to be allowed to legally smoke marijuana for his medical conditions. George is one of a shrinking number of people who are allowed to legally smoke marijuana and is provided his medication by the United States Government.

Proposition 215: Medical Use of Marijuana Initiative - the 1996 California voter initiative that legalized medical marijuana clubs. From the California Ballot Pamphlet.

Americans for Medical Rights - "Nothing on this website is more than 20 years old, and much of it is far more recent. Were anyone to try to encapsulate the long history of marijuana's use as a therapeutic agent, both in the United States and worldwide, such a compilation would be many times larger. That history literally goes back thousands of years."

The Marijuana Mission - "Hi! I am on a Mission! The Government of Canada has given me a prescription that I can't fill!! My name is Alison. I am 36 years old, have Chronic Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and Left-side Trigeminal Neuralgia (a.k.a. Tic Douloureux). After symptoms dating back to Cheerleading in High School, I was finally diagnosed in October 1992 at the age of 28, back to the age of 15, with this puzzling disease..."