Health & Medicine
Thursday, May 23, 2013
The Colbert Report on 'Marijuana Makes You Skinny' Research
Health & Medicine David Downs — Thu, May 23, 2013 at 12:34 PM
Political satirist and host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report took a look Tuesday at the reports that marijuana improves metabolism, may prevent diabetes and keep people skinny in a segment called "Cheating Death".
"The idea that this stupid ... study could eat into the profits of these great American pharmaceuticals makes my blood boil!"
Embed after the jump.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Meet Legalization Nation at INTCHE in Burlingame This Saturday
Health & Medicine David Downs — Thu, May 16, 2013 at 11:10 AM
You know who could use some medical marijuana education? The San Francisco peninsula, where it's seemingly nothing but dispensary bans from the San Francisco border to San Jose. That's just cruel.
To that end, your humble, ever-faithful Legalization Nation editor is scheduled to speak Saturday, May 18 at 4:40 p.m. in Burlingame, CA. at the International Cannabis and Hemp Expo.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
How To Buy Maryland Medical Marijuana: First, Wait Three Years ...
Health & Medicine David Downs — Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 12:00 PM
Maryland's state nickname may be "Free State", but it won't feel liberating to patients who qualify for medical marijuana.
The Maryland State Senate voted 42-4 earlier this week in favor of House Bill 1101, widely lauded as the law to make Maryland the 20th medical marijuana state in the nation. Nice work to everyone who's trying, but just to be clear, HB 1101 doesn't legalize medical marijuana — at least not yet. And if the rest of the Eastern Seaboard is any indication — New Jersey, Maine, Rhode Island, Washington D.C. — a forest of red tape will soon envelop this token project.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Gut Feeling: Pot Eases Crohn's Disease
Health & Medicine David Downs — Mon, Apr 8, 2013 at 10:17 AM
Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, Israel is recruiting Crohn's Disease sufferers for a study on the ability of cannabis to treat the inflammatory bowel disease. According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health's ClinicalTrials.gov, researchers with Meir are currently recruiting participants for phase 1 and 2 studies of the effectiveness of pot molecules THC and CBD on the painful, diarrhea- and vomiting-inducing GI tract illness, which affects 400,000-600,000 North Americans.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Health Costs of Pot Tiny Compared to Tobacco or Alcohol
Health & Medicine David Downs — Fri, Mar 29, 2013 at 8:32 AM
The health costs associated with marijuana are $20 per year versus $800 for tobacco and $165 for alcohol, according to this new infographic from designer Adrienne Erin, who works at the detox business Clarity Way.
In her infographic, Erin runs through the latest polls, the national legalization picture, Colorado and Washington legalization details, and more to create a nice little primer on what's going on. The $20 per year annual health cost of pot can be traced back to the Canada's national health department: Health Canada, in 2006. Check the infographic below:
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Medical Pot Sales Tax on the Terminally Ill May Be Lifted
Health & Medicine David Downs — Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 12:48 PM
The only thing for certain is death and taxes — OK, so maybe not all taxes.
Terminally ill medical marijuana patients may be able to avoid paying the 7.5 percent state sales tax on the pain-, nausea-, and wasting-combating drug if a new proposal from the California Board of Equalization becomes law.
The BOE currently mandates all sales of medical cannabis be taxed, netting the state an estimated $100 million per year in sales taxes. Scores of California cities like San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and Richmond also assess their own local "sin" taxes on medical pot, on top of state sales tax, bringing in tens of millions of dollars more annually, reports show.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Richmond's Grand Daddy Purp Collective Wins Highest CBD Award
Health & Medicine David Downs — Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 9:47 AM
Richmond collective Grand Daddy Purp's winning streak continues this season. On Sunday, judges affiliated with High Times magazine awarded the Richmond dispensary the Highest CBD trophy in the 2013 High Times Medical Cannabis Cup Los Angeles. The winning GDP strain is called Sandman.
Grand Daddy Purp collective has a long history of breeding award-winning plants, as well as growing and selling them in the East Bay.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Another Day, Another Bogus Pot Study
Health & Medicine David Downs — Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 10:40 AM
It takes some balls to say weed doubles the risk of stroke, and to not control the study for tobacco or alcohol use. New Zealand professor of clinical neurology Alan Barber: You sir, have some balls.
Barber presented his "pot doubles strokes risk" findings at the the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2013 this week. There are no links to the actual paper, but in the presentation and associated press release, Barber suggests that cannabis use may double the stroke risk in young adults.
He came to this conclusion by testing the pee of 160 stroke patients between the ages of 18 and 55. Sixteen percent of the patients tested positive for cannabis. “These patients usually had no other vascular risk factors apart from tobacco, alcohol and other drug usage,” Barber said.
But wait, isn't alcohol and tobacco and other drug use a HUGE vascular risk factor? I mean, even caffeine increases risk of stroke. Even the press release admits, "the association [between weed and stroke] is confounded because all but one of the stroke patients who were cannabis users also used tobacco regularly."
Still, “We believe it is the cannabis use and not tobacco,” states Professor Barber.
It's nice to believe things, but belief isn't science, Doc.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Smoking Cigarettes Banned At Outside Lands and Other SF Events — But Medical Weed's Still OK
Health & Medicine David Downs — Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 9:32 AM
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to ban tobacco — but not pot — smoking at outdoor events that take place on City-owned property. The law includes street fairs and places like Golden Gate Park, where tens of thousands amass regularly for events like the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival each summer. Outside Lands producers as well as street fair producers will have to notify the public that the event is smoke-free and post signage.
An exemption was carved out for people using medical marijuana. While second-hand tobacco smoke is a known carcinogen, extensive, well-funded federal studies have failed to find a link between pot smoking and lung cancer. Cannabinoids also have an anti-tumor effect in cell and animal studies.
- David Downs
- Still legal at S.F. street fairs, with a doctor's note
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
It's 2013 — Go Get Your Medical Marijuana Recommendation
Health & Medicine David Downs — Wed, Jan 2, 2013 at 1:08 PM
Cannabis is all but legal in California, according to the New York Times.
But Californians need a doctor's recommendation in order to lawfully possess the herb. Many readers have asked us over the months if they'll jeopardize employment opportunities or end up on some master list of pot smokers if they get a doctor's note or a state medical marijuana ID card.
Always here to help, we went out and got the facts, detailed in this week's column, 'The Truth About Medical Marijuana Card Privacy".
