Dying Woman Loses Appeal on Marijuana as Medication

It helps with muscle spasms, nerve damage issues, nausea, loss of appetite, sleep problems and other issues.
Honestly I don't use it very often, I have a young son and try not to have it in the house. Because of the law, I suffer far more than I should.
My pain medication works better than marijuana for pain management, but I eat less than I could, sleep less than I could, have more nerve damage and nausea... the list is long.

[piercehawkeye45]

Ok, that makes more sense now. Thanks.

[Griff]

Like Dagney, I think it is mostly about pharmaceutical companies, after all the Feds like marinol even though it is less effective. The same thing drives the world-wide shortage of opiates while we're spraying opium fields in Afghanistan. Hmmm... business and government working together to bar competition in the marketplace, mixing in a dose of nationalism and a heavily militarized economy, sounds familiar...

[Beestie]

Despite the inflammatory nature of the story including the pic I just can't get upset over it.

If she needs herb then she should go get some. End of story.

[Shawnee123]

It's just ridiculous. Why does our society put such stigma on some damn pot. The therapeutic effects for certain conditions are real. For the love of Pete...

[Elspode]

It is her intention to continue to use the illegal substance in question. I say good for her.

The Feds are standing on existing Federal law, because they can't have the individual States going around doing what the hell they want. That'd be States Rights, and that would violate the Constitution.

What? You say that States Rights are implicit in the Constitution?

Damn it. Well, the States just should do what the Feds say or they won't give you back your share of your citizen's tax money. So there.

Originally Posted by Griff

Like Dagney, I think it is mostly about pharmaceutical companies, after all the Feds like marinol even though it is less effective. The same thing drives the world-wide shortage of opiates while we're spraying opium fields in Afghanistan. Hmmm... business and government working together to bar competition in the marketplace, mixing in a dose of nationalism and a heavily militarized economy, sounds familiar...

Marinol makes 60% of the people that take it more nauseous and does not impact lack of appetite.
There are no drugs that are as effective as it for all the other benefits, for some of these benefits there are no drugs that help like it does.
The AMA did some studies thirty years ago, there are three that still get government marijuana from that study. The effects were so positive that the study was halted and the AMA will not discuss it because of outside political pressure.
AMA representatives were on the Montel show, he uses due to his MS, he brought two of these three test subjects on... the reps refused to speak on the medical benefits of marijuana and the myths for the rest of the show.

[WabUfvot5]

Does Marinol have just THC as the active ingredient or something more?

It is a synthetic.

[richlevy]

The website has a nice brief on the case, which is going back to the appellate court.

The government does not attempt to refute Appellants’ showing that the Due Process Clause and the Ninth Amendment protect not only the fundamental right to “life,” but also the fundamental rights to make life-shaping decisions, preserve bodily integrity, and avoid severe pain. Nor does it dispute that its prohibition of Angel’s medically necessary activities must be ruled unconstitutional if this Court applies the undue burden standard. Instead, it simply denies that any fundamental rights are at stake and insists that mere rationality review applies. The government’s argument is untenable.

Another constitutional argument is our right to use the land as we wish.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

It's just ridiculous. Why does our society put such stigma on some damn pot. The therapeutic effects for certain conditions are real. For the love of Pete...

I've a feeling that when the whole 60s, hippies, sex, drugs and rock&roll vs John Wayne citizens, clash developed...to the JWCs, pot symbolized everything they didn't like.

Even though it had been illegal since it was chosen to provide busy work for agents displaced by the end of prohibition, being the poster child of the turbulent 60s gave it a stigma a generation or two will never get over.
As those generations make way for the ones that accept it or are ambivalent, there will only be the politicians bought by the pharmaceutical, alcohol, tobacco, MAPD lobbies, without a constituency to blame. Then there will be change. Religion has nothing to do with it.

If the tobacco companies were smart, they'd see their market shrinking and lobby to legalize pot and let them handle it. They have a huge network already in place, to package, distribute and collect the taxes.

The problem is that it is not just tobacco that stands to lose, who stands to lose the most are the textile companies. It was they who lobbied to get it outlawed to begin with in the thirties after Popular Mechanics announced a machine that was going to help make paper with a fifth of the chemicals as the new paper bleaching process.
Kimberly Clark and Dow freaked and the next thing you know "Jazz blacks were going to smoke pot and rape your innocent white daughter"!!!
Before that jeans, rope, paper... hell the American Flags, bibles and all military canvas was made of hemp. Up through WWII if you were a farmer during a war and had X acers of land you HAD to grow textile grade hemp (which you can't get high off of but is still illegal... huh?).
Pharmaceuticals and Distilleries also, they all stand to lose billions.
It can be grown at home easily, it is indigenous, cannot be patented, you cannot OD on it and it does not kill brain cells or make you violent like alcohol, despite the urban myths.
The last thing these people want is for the common Joe and Jane to find this stuff out.

[Beestie]

Originally Posted by Jebediah

Does Marinol have just THC as the active ingredient or something more?

Marinol just has THC but, as rkz pointed out, it is synthetic and pretty much ineffective. It is not a substitute for mj.

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I've a feeling that when the whole 60s, hippies, sex, drugs and rock&roll vs John Wayne citizens, clash developed...to the JWCs, pot symbolized everything they didn't like.

The war against mj started long before the 60s. Although I agree with your statement, the anti-mj movement started back in the late 30s or early 40s as I recall.

In a related story, Bill Richardson is expected to sign legislation making NM the 12th state to permit the use of mj for medical use.

[WabUfvot5]

Ahh, thanks. Never even seen Marinol. Talked to one person who took it and got ill, but everybody here gets the real greens.