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In Sydney, Australia participants are currently being recruited for a CBD research study that will examine regular cannabis users to help researchers understand the role of the endocannabinoid system in pain perception. Regular marijuana users who participate in the study will be compensated for their time. I am not telling you this to suggest that the United States pay people to smoke marijuana so we can study them, but we should definitely be doing research on the plant here, rather than letting every other country figure out how useful marijuana is in treating many horrible diseases first.
We are way behind other countries in marijuana research, especially Sweden and Canada. Did you know that Sativex, a fixed dose combination of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) is sold as adjunctive treatment for the symptomatic relief of neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis patients and is available in both Sweden and Canada? Sativex is distinct from all other pharmaceutically produced cannabinoids currently available because it is a mixture of compounds derived from Cannabis plants, rather than a mono-molecular synthetic product. It is a pharmaceutical product that contains both THC and CBD. The product is formulated as an oromucosal spray which is administered by spraying into the mouth. This mouth spray allows for proper titration of dosage and eliminates the need to smoke marijuana. The presence of CBD also tends to lessen the intoxicating effects of THC.
In Uruguay, marijuana was legalized in May, 2014, and sales are expected to begin before the end of the year. The government will sell the marijuana by the gram and there is a limit on how much each individual can buy. Clearly, the governments in many other countries know that marijuana is not just something college students smoke to "get high" during keg parties. It is time that Americans realize that for many with debilitating diseases, marijuana is medicine, and not just for multiple sclerosis, but also for cancer.
The American Cancer Society supports the need for more scientific research on cannabinoids for cancer patients. It also believes that the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration imposes numerous conditions on researchers and deters scientific study of cannabinoids. The American Cancer Society admits that a few studies have found that inhaled (smoked or vaporized) marijuana can be helpful in the treatment of neuropathic pain (pain caused by damaged nerves). In addition, scientists have reported that THC and other cannabinoids such as CBD slow growth and/or cause death in certain types of cancer cells growing in laboratory dishes.
Cannabinoids might be one of the best disease and cancer fighting treatments available. Cannabinoids refer to any of a group of related compounds that include cannabinol and the active constituents of cannabis. They activate cannabinoid receptors in the body. The body itself produces compounds called endocannabinoids and they play a role in many processes within the body that help to create a healthy environment. Cannabinoids also play a role in immune system generation and re-generation. Cannabinoids can also be found in Cannabis and have been proven to reduce cancer cells as they have a major impact on the rebuilding of the immune system. While not every strain of cannabis has the same effect, more and more patients are seeing success in cancer reduction in a short period of time by using cannabis.1 It is possible that certain cannabinoids will slow cancer growth and reduce the spread of some forms of cancer, but we won't know until the federal ban is overturned and medical professionals can do further research.
There have been a few early clinical trials of cannabinoids in treating cancer in human beings, but some doctors are skeptical because the fact that a substance can cure cancer in lab animals does not mean that it can cure cancer in human beings, but it is certainly worth a try. Many people believe that marijuana oil can cure their cancer and are blogging about it online, and no one knows for sure whether or not they are right. The United States should start doing the research necessary to find out. The first step is to make medical marijuana legal in every state so researchers will be allowed to study it without fear of legal consequences.
1Walia, Arjun. (August 23, 2013). 20 Medical Studies That Show Cannabis Can Cure Cancer. (Retrieved from http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/08/23/20-medical-studies-that-prove-cannabis-can-cure-cancer/)
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Senators Joe Manchin and David Vitter are concerned about what they call "pay-to-play" meetings in which pharmaceutical manufacturers allegedly paid thousands of dollars to meet with FDA officials who oversee safety regulations on painkillers. The senators suggest these meetings might have helped Zohydro get approved by the FDA despite an advisory committee voting against it. Zohydro was approved by the FDA even though many doctors believe the drug is deadly! Manchin and Vitter have requested the financial records including any payment transfers) for groups connected to the University of Rochester that reportedly set up the meetings between pharmaceutical company representatives and FDA officials.
Zohydro's initial manufacturer, Elan (now Alkermes), reportedly paid to send a representative to these private meetings. In their letter, Manchin and Vitter alleged that these meetings gave the drug companies undue influence over the FDA's approval process for prescription pain medicine. University of Rochester Medical Center spokesman Christopher DiFrancesco denied all allegations, of course.
Corporate pharmaceutical criminals, who are doing business with the regulating industry, push dangerous products onto the market and make obscene profits, while medical marijuana is classified as one of the most dangerous and addictive drugs in existence. This classification in turn makes it extremely difficult for scientists to study marijuana's potential benefits. There are too many entrepreneurs in this country who care much more about profit than about curing diseases and relieving the pain and suffering of others.
The DEA keeps medical marijuana research tied up, and pharmaceutical giants continue putting profit over human lives. Big Pharma does not want to cure cancer because treating it is far more profitable. Big Pharma would not be happy if the CBD in marijuana could cure cancer so they don't want scientists to study the plant. Honest doctors want to cure cancer, but as soon as any doctor comes close to curing it, Big Pharma makes sure the doctor does not succeed by withholding money for research. The following story illustrates my point.
Several years ago, Canadian scientists tested this dichloroacetate (DCA) on human's cells and it killed lung, breast and brain cancer cells and left the healthy cells alone.1 Since it could not be patented, Big Pharma had no interest in it. They were only interested in selling expensive drugs, which they claimed were expensive because of research and development. This is not true. Drug companies' research and development expenses, the most common industry excuse for high prices, are nothing compared to their vast expenditures for marketing. The prices of pharmaceuticals are very high because of sales and promotion. How many pharmaceutical commercials do you see on TV every evening?
Retired police officer Howard Wooldridge told the Republic Report in 2012 that one of his biggest opponents on Capitol Hill was the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), given that marijuana can "tak[e] the place of everything from Advil to Vicodin and other expensive pills." PhRMA is certainly an organization to be reckoned with. In 2013 alone, PhRMA spent nearly $18 million on lobbying, ranking it ninth in spending among all lobbying clients. Drug manufacturers gave big in the 2012 elections — nearly $21.8 million to various federal candidates and committees as well as the parties.2
The fight for medical marijuana is really a fight against big pharmaceutical companies who can't stand the thought of making less profit, police officers who would rather arrest weed dealers than deal with violent criminals, and the prison system that makes money locking people up. If only the majority of human beings were altruistic instead of greedy, it would not be so difficult for people suffering from horrific diseases to get medical marijuana. We can't change human nature, but we can take a big step toward helping those who are suffering by voting yes for the medical marijuana amendment this November.
1Scientists Cure Cancer But No One Takes Notice. (May 15, 2011). (Retrieved from http://www.sott.net/article/228583-Scientists-cure-cancer-but-no-one-takes-notice)
2Bentsen, Kendall. (August 5, 2014) Money, Not Morals, Drives Marijuana Prohibition Movement. (Retrieved from http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2014/08/money-not-morals-drives-marijuana-prohibition-movement/)
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The New Mexico Court of Appeals recently ruled that an employer must pay for an injured worker's medical marijuana. This is the nation's first appellate court ruling in a workers' compensation case in which an employer has been ordered to pay for medical marijuana prescribed by an employee's healthcare provider to treat a workplace injury.1
In 2000, George Vialpando injured his back at work in 2000 while he was employed by Ben's Automotive Services in Santa Fe. For years, he was unable to find pain relief from narcotics and other pain medication. His physician said Vialpando believed his pain was too severe to treat with traditional medication.
In 2013, Vialpando was certified by his healthcare providers to participate in the New Mexico medical marijuana program which permits people to purchase marijuana after receiving certification from a medical practitioner licensed in New Mexico. Vialpando applied for approval from a workers' compensation judge to have the marijuana paid for by his former employer. The workers' compensation judge approved the application, found the requested treatment was "reasonable and necessary," and ordered his employer to pay for the medical marijuana. Ben's Automotive appealed to the New Mexico Court of Appeals.
Ben's Automotive raised two arguments for why it shouldn't be required to reimburse Vialpando: First, the Workers' Compensation Act doesn't authorize reimbursement for the cost of medical marijuana, and second, the workers' compensation judge's order was illegal under federal law. Ben's Automotive argued that it was being forced to violate federal law because marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance, so it's illegal under federal law to use or possess it. There's no exception under federal law for the medical use of marijuana. Both arguments were rejected by the court of appeals, which ruled that the New Mexico Workers' Compensation Act doesn't prohibit a healthcare provider from certifying that an injured worker should receive medical marijuana in the course of the treatment for his workplace injury. As long as the treatment is "reasonable and necessary" and approved by a workers' compensation judge, the employer is responsible for paying for it under the Act regardless of the federal ban.
New Mexico employers are in the position of deciding whether to violate a federal law or a workers' compensation judge's order. The more states that have the chutzpah to violate the federal ban on marijuana, the faster the draconian federal law will change. Even when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves medicinal cannabis studies, the researcher or institution must then obtain approval from the Public Health Service (PHS), as well as procure cannabis material from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which is very difficult to do, but they must keep fighting no matter how many obstacles lie ahead. Millions of people in all states could be helped by medical marijuana, which typically has more CBD than THC in it.
Another important development in the fight for medical marijuana is Amendment 3630 recently filed by Sen. Rand Paul in the Senate. Amendment 3630 would protect states that implement medical marijuana laws, as well as patients and physicians in those states, from federal prosecution. The amendment would allow states to "enact and implement laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of marijuana for medical use" without fear of federal prosecution.
There are 33 states that have enacted laws protecting some form medical marijuana. The amendment also prohibits prosecution of patients and physicians for violating federal laws against the drug. The amendment is meant to encourage doctors to prescribe medical marijuana for their patients without fear of losing their license or being prosecuted by the federal government. Because the Senate is currently dysfunctional, it is very unlikely that Paul's amendment will be passed this year. Perhaps things will change when medical marijuana becomes legal in Florida in November.
1Koenig, Barbara J. (July 24, 2014). Medical Pot Covered by Worker's Cop, says Appeals Court. (Retrieved from http://hr.blr.com/HR-news/Performance-Termination/Alcohol-and-Drugs-Testing/Medical-pot-covered-by-workers-comp-says-court#)
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According to the Supreme Court, an important virtue of our federalist system of
government is that "a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory;
and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country."
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Starting a business in an industry that is still illegal under federal law requires someone daring enough to assume risks, but humble enough to avoid undue attention from the federal government. To avoid attracting the attention of the feds, your organization should keep a low profile, and make sure that everything you do complies with state law. Compliance with state law will not help you in if you end up in federal court, but it will likely help to prevent you from coming to the attention of the feds in the first place. The best way to start is to hire an attorney who specializes in marijuana regulations and enroll in a class on how to grow high quality medical marijuana for medicinal purposes. It is important to understand the conflict between the federal and state laws regarding marijuana, before determining if this type of business is right for you.
In the U.S., federal preemption is the invalidation of a state law that conflicts with Federal law. According to the Supremacy Clause (Article VI, clause 2) of the U.S. Constitution:
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.
Several states with legal medical marijuana received letters from their respective United States Attorney's offices explaining that marijuana is a Schedule I substance and that the federal government considers growing, distribution, or possession of marijuana to be a federal crime regardless of state laws. On Aug. 29, 2013 the Department of Justice sent a memo stating that the federal government would rely on state and local law enforcement to address marijuana activity through enforcement of their own laws. In the states where medical marijuana is legal, state and local law enforcement will not likely cooperate with the federal government, and federal officials do not have enough manpower to enforce the ban without help from the states.
During the Bush administration, dispensaries continued to be raided under federal law. After President Barack Obama took office in March, 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would no longer conduct raids on medical marijuana dispensaries, as long as the dispensaries were abiding by their own state laws. In 2013, the Obama administration filed a guidance asking prosecutors and regulators to avoid prosecuting individual marijuana users and businesses in states where marijuana is legal. The guidance maintained exceptions that allow prosecutors to crack down on instances in which legal marijuana is sold to minors, is grown on public land, falls into the hands of drug cartels, or spreads to states where the drug remains illegal. The guidance does not grant legal immunity, but it tells prosecutors and regulators to prioritize other issues.
The Obama administration cannot promise anyone immunity if people choose to use or sell marijuana, as long as marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Until this outdated draconian law is overturned, people risk losing their jobs, apartments, even custody of children if they are found using a drug that is legal in their state, even if they have a prescription from their doctor for their medicine. There is risk involved in selling medical marijuana and risk involved in using it, but this is going to change as more and more states legalize medical marijuana.
If you have been wondering whether Colorado and Washington can make marijuana legalization stick in the face of federal law to the contrary, the Congressional Research Service asserted that states cannot be forced to comply with the federal prohibition of marijuana. Even though the federal government has a right to ban marijuana, the Tenth Amendment allows states to opt out of participating in the law or assisting in enforcement in any way, making it impossible for federal officials to enforce the ban. If you are an entrepreneur and are not afraid to take a risk, growing medical marijuana would not only provide you with substantial income, but would also help many very sick people. The more people who stand up to the federal government on this issue, the faster the federal government will change it laws.
In State Legislation of Recreational Marijuana Selected Legal Issues, authors Todd Garvey and Brian T. Yeh point out that the federal government is limited in its ability to directly influence state policy by the Tenth Amendment, which prevents the federal government from directing states to enact specific legislation, or requiring state officials to enforce federal law. As such, the fact that the federal government has criminalized conduct does not mean that the state, in turn, must also criminalize or prosecute that same conduct. Court decisions have been clear on this point, add Garvey and Yeh, emphasizing that "[u]nder both Tenth Amendment and preemption principles, federal and state courts have previously held that a state's decision to simply permit what the federal government prohibits does not create a 'positive conflict' with federal law."1
Voters in Colorado and Washington have not ended America's experience with marijuana prohibition, but they have deprived the federal government of most of its enforcement mechanisms, and this is an excellent first step. The more states that join these two progressive states, the sooner the federal ban will be overturned. On May 30, 2014, the House voted to block the federal government from enforcing the marijuana ban in states where medical marijuana has been approved. The plan passed 219-189, with 49 Republicans teaming up with 170 Democrats to approve the measure. Almost all of the states that have legalized medical marijuana have set up patient registries to keep track of medical marijuana users. Eleven states currently allow marijuana dispensaries. The other states require that you grow your own marijuana for medical use, and a limited amount is allowed.
There is no doubt in my mind that medical marijuana will someday be legal in every state. Recreational marijuana, however, is another story. At the moment, the federal government is not cooperating with Colorado and Washington, the only two states that have legalized marijuana for adults for recreational use and has threatened to cut off their water supply so that they can't grow marijuana.
The cost to date of the federal government's war on medical cannabis is nearly half a billion dollars! The Obama Administration, in just four and a half years, has spent more than $289 million, outspending the Bush Administration by $100 million. In 2012 alone, the DEA used 4% of its budget on medical cannabis cases. According to Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, M.D., "The evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by illnesses like multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS — or by the harsh drugs sometimes used to treat them and it can do so with remarkable safety. Indeed, marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every day."2
Eventually the government will figure out that they are wasting too much money on a war they cannot win. When the government decided to prohibit alcohol consumption many years ago (for valid reasons since alcohol is associated with many health problems), it did not work. Instead, it created a black market for bootlegging, which helped lead to the establishment of American organized crime, which persisted long after the repeal of Prohibition.
It is important to get marijuana off the streets and regulate it. That is the only way to make sure that children cannot buy it. According to a recent Gallup poll, a clear majority of Americans (58%) say marijuana should be legalized for medical and recreational use.3 As more and more people become educated about the numerous medicinal uses for marijuana, that percentage will skyrocket.
California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana when voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996. Since then, the medical cannabis industry has flourished, generating upwards of $100 million in annual tax revenue. California, where 65% of residents support legalization for recreational use, plans to legalize the drug in 2016 under the leadership of Lt. Governor Gavin Newsome. Eventually, lawmakers will realize that marijuana is not a dangerous drug and it has a great deal of medicinal value. Federal marijuana laws will eventually change to reflect public opinion and scientific consensus, but I can't tell you how long it will take, or how much money the government will waste in the process.
1Tuccille, J.D. (April 16, 2013). States Can Legalize Marijuana (Though Federal Laws Stand) Says Congressional Research Service. (retrieved from http://reason.com/blog/2013/04/16/states-can-legalize-marijuana-though-fed)
2What's the Cost? The Federal War on Patients (June 2013). (Retrieved from report on www.PeaceforPatients.Org)
3Swift, Art. (October 22, 2013). For First Time, Americans Favor Legalizing Marijuana. (Retrieved from www.gallup.com/poll/165539/first-time-americans-favor-legalizing-marijuana.aspx)
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History was recently made in the Florida Senate, when legislators for the first time passed a bill to legalize low-THC medical marijuana that treats intractable epilepsy in children. The marijuana must contain less than .3% THC (the compound responsible for the high feeling) and 15% or more CBD (the part of the plant used to get the oil needed to treat epilepsy). This bill recently won in the Senate with a 36-3 vote. Most legislators believe that marijuana has medical value for many diseases, but overturning a federal ban in not easy to do.
I do not believe that Rick Scott will veto this bill because it reduces the suffering of young children and is clearly a blessing for many parents. Not only that, but many other states that don't allow medical marijuana for most diseases have legalized medical marijuana oil for the purpose of treating epilepsy, including Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin. The suffering of young children has caused many states to reconsider the ridiculous federal classification of marijuana as a drug with no medicinal use.
The Florida amendment will allow medical marijuana to be used for debilitating medical conditions, which are defined as epilepsy, cancer, glaucoma, positive status for (HIV), AIDS, hepatitis C, ALS, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis or other conditions for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient. Florida is covered by the phrase "conditions for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would outweigh the health risks," because this would include anything the doctor decides to use the drug for and would therefore include all 40 chronic diseases and conditions allowed by other states. This legislation is very well written because it is going to give doctors the power to decide what is best for their patients.
The Department of Health will be Responsible for establishing the regulatory scheme within 9 months of the passing of the amendment, and will likely examine the regulatory schemes that are already in place in other states that have already legalized medical marijuana. There are 39 nurseries in Florida that are eligible to grow marijuana according to the Florida Department of Agriculture. Under the current plan, the Florida Department of Health would choose five nurseries across the state, including one in central Florida, to grow and sell the non-euphoric medical marijuana. Doctors would have to undergo eight hours of continuing education before they were allowed to prescribe it. Each nursery must have each been in business for at least 30 years to qualify, a very bad provision that will make it difficult for start-up marijuana growers to start a new business. I do not believe that this limitation will exist after the Amendment passes in November, because it is not practical. Having 5 dispensaries in a state as large as Florida is much too restrictive and would likely make it difficult for all patients to get their medicine in a timely manner, especially if they are too sick to travel. This type of overregulation is not conducive to business interests and will likely be revised before the law goes into effect.
The majority of Floridians believe that a regulated marijuana market would be far superior to the criminal market that now exists. I believe that regulations will not be overly restrictive in Florida, like they are in New Jersey, where patients are having a great deal of difficulty getting their medicine. Dispensing medical marijuana will be a lucrative business to operate, especially when the banks begin to give loans to start up businesses, and that depends on when the federal ban is overturned.
Last year, a few House members began a broad effort to overturn the 43-year-old federal ban on marijuana and they intend to keep up the pressure even if it takes years. Ten lawmakers wrote bills that will serve as legislative guideposts for the future if the House, as expected, ignores their proposals during this Congress. The ten lawmakers co-sponsoring Polis' bill included California Democrat Barbara Lee, who represented San Francisco, New York Democrat Jerrold Nadler, whose district includes Manhattan, and one Republican, Californian Dana Rohrabacher, a Tea Party libertarian from conservative Orange County.
According to Bill Piper, the director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit organization that favors making marijuana legal for adults, "Congress won't be able to continue to ignore what is going on at the state level. Eventually, Congress will have to change federal law to accommodate the states.1 No one knows how long it will take to accomplish this.
Peter Bensinger, a former head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, urged lawmakers to keep the ban despite the pressure to legalize marijuana. He stated that smoking marijuana impairs judgment and could cause cancer like cigarettes, which is completely false. Marijuana is a neuroprotectant that helps to slow down the progression of some cancers. It has never caused cancer and no one has ever overdosed on it. Marijuana is extremely bad for adolescents who have mental health disorders, and no legitimate doctor would prescribe it for such a patient.
Unfortunately, many conservative lawmakers share Mr. Bensinger's ridiculous view, which is why previous congressional attempts to decriminalize marijuana failed. The legalization push in the House had very little bipartisan support in 2013. Rep. Jared Polis acknowledged that getting any marijuana bill through a bitterly divided Congress would be difficult, but many liberal lawmakers were determined not to give up.
In February, 2014, Polis and Blumenauer introduced bills against federal marijuana policy, which makes it illegal to grow, use, possess or distribute it. Polis' measure wanted to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act. Blumenauer's bill would allow the government to tax marijuana like tobacco and alcohol. If both bills had become law, states would have decided whether or not to legalize marijuana, and state lawmakers would have Washington's blessing to impose taxes on it.
On May 30, 2014, the House in Washington voted to block the federal government from enforcing the marijuana ban in states where medical marijuana has been approved. The plan passed 219-189, with 49 Republicans teaming up with 170 Democrats to approve the measure. There is no doubt in my mind that medical marijuana will someday be legal in every U.S. state. Marijuana for recreational use, however, is another story. The federal government is not cooperating with Colorado and Washington, the only two states that have legalized marijuana for adults for recreational use and has threatened to cut off their water supply so that they can't grow marijuana!
In New Jersey, S119 was supposed to become effective six months after it was enacted on Jan. 18, 2010, but the legislature, DHHS, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had difficulty coming to an agreement on the details of how the program would be run. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services released draft rules outlining the registration and application process on Oct. 6, 2010. A public hearing to discuss the proposed rules was held on Dec. 6, 2010 at the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, according to the New Jersey Register.
On Dec. 20, 2011, Senator Nicholas Scutari, lead sponsor of the medical marijuana bill, submitted Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 140 declaring that the "Board of Medical Examiners proposed medicinal marijuana program rules are inconsistent with legislative intent." The New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens committee held a public hearing to discuss SCR 140 and a similar bill, SCR 130, on Jan. 20, 2010.
On Oct. 16, 2012, the Department of Health issued the first dispensary permit to Greenleaf Compassion Center, allowing it to operate as an Alternative Treatment Center and dispense marijuana. The center opened on Dec. 6, 2012, becoming New Jersey's first dispensary.
In New Jersey, approved debilitating medical conditions do not include the 40 chronic diseases, that are included in Illinois. Debilitation medical conditions in New Jersey are limited to:
The following conditions apply, if resistant to, or if the patient is intolerant to, conventional therapy:
The following conditions apply, if severe or chronic pain, severe nausea or vomiting, cachexia or wasting syndrome results from the condition or treatment thereof:
New Jersey has only three alternative treatment centers (ATCs) where you can buy medical marijuana and many people do not live close to any of these ATCs. The three ATCs are:
It is illegal to grow medical marijuana yourself in New Jersey, which makes it a hassle for many sick people to get the medicine that the doctor prescribed. In addition, patients must have computers with Internet access to register for the program in New Jersey. Physicians must have a computer with Internet access, a scanner, and a digital or web camera. Physicians may authorize a maximum amount of two ounces of marijuana in a 30 day period. Only patients and caregivers are allowed into an ATC to pick up the medicinal marijuana and they must have an ID card from the Medical Marijuana Program. These cumbersome restrictions are making it extremely difficult for patients to get their medicine, possibly because Chris Christie does not believe in medical marijuana.
In Arizona, qualified patients or their registered designated caregivers may obtain up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in a 14-day period from a registered nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary. If the patient lives more than 25 miles from the nearest dispensary, the patient or caregiver may cultivate up to 12 marijuana plants in an enclosed, locked facility. This system is far better for both patients and start-up dispensaries than the system in New Jersey.
In California, their medical marijuana regulatory scheme is so lax that it has eroded the legitimacy of medical marijuana. Many states are afraid that legal medical marijuana will lead to legal recreational marijuana because they believe that California has "veiled legalization." In 1996, California's Compassionate Use Act did not allow the sale and distribution of medical marijuana. Patients and their caregivers were expected to grow it themselves.
Under California's Medical Marijuana and the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, Proposition 215, California patients under medical care and their primary caregivers may possess and cultivate marijuana. The patient or caregiver must have written approval from a physician, but obtaining an actual county-issued marijuana health card is safer. The marijuana may not be distributed or sold. Approved conditions include:
Although marijuana is legal in California only for medical use, it is widely available. Imposing a local tax on medical marijuana, as Oakland and San Jose have done, has not pushed consumers to drug dealers as some analysts expected. That is likely because it is so easy to get reliable and high-quality marijuana legally. Although the law in California applies only to people who have a medical need for marijuana, the requirements for getting the card to buy the drug are notoriously lax. Doctors can recommend its use for ailments as common as sleeplessness and headaches.3
A recent poll showed that approximately 88% of Floridians believe medical marijuana should be legal. After the amendment passes in November, Florida's Department of Health should create medical marijuana legislation that is far less strict than New Jersey's legislation, so that patients can get their medicine easily, and much more strict than California, where anyone can say they have a headache and they will be given a prescription for medical marijuana, if they go to a doctor willing to give the prescription. Let's hope the Department of Health gives serious consideration to the fact that very sick people need easy access to their medicine when they create the laws.
1Vaida, Bara. (May 22, 2014). Medical Marijuana OK'd in More States in 2014. WebMD, LLC. (retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/news/20140522/medical-marijuana-more-states)
2Naourney, Adam and Lyman, Rick. (Oct. 26, 2013). Few Problems with Cannabis for California. New York Times. (retrived from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/us/few-problems-with-cannabis-for-california.html)
3Naourney, Adam and Lyman, Rick. (Oct. 26, 2013). Few Problems with Cannabis for California. New York Times. (retrived from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/us/few-problems-with-cannabis-for-california.html)
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"I will believe in the death penalty
when you will prove to me
the infallibility of human beings."
Marquis de La Fayette (1757-1834)
A recent two-year study led by Mark White, former governor of Texas; Gerald Kogan, former chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court; and attorney Beth Wilkinson provides a comprehensive review of the death penalty. Until 2010, most states used a three-drug cocktail for lethal injections: an anesthetic (sodium thiopental or pentobarbital), a paralytic agent called Pavulon or pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride, which stops the heart and causes death. Difficulties in obtaining the proper three drugs, complicated procedures for mixing them, and the lack of trained people willing to administer them have led to murderers suffering before they die. This is against the eighth amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. According to Mark Earley, an attorney general in Virginia, the administration of capital punishment in America is "unjust, disproportionate and very likely unconstitutional."1 The vast majority of countries in Western Europe, North America and South America (more than 139 nations worldwide) have abandoned capital punishment.
According to this comprehensive report, the three-drug combination for lethal injections should be replaced by only one anesthetic or barbiturate. Eight states (Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington) have used a single lethal dose of an anesthetic for executions. The report also states that both state and federal courts often refuse to hear claims of new evidence presented by prisoners on death row and use a variety of procedural means to deny prisoners their rights. Mark White oversaw 19 executions in Texas where he was governor from 1983 to 1987. According to him, "we don't have proper procedures to make sure we're not executing innocent people."2
In Texas, the state that executes more people than any other state, the controversy is focused on the proposed switch from sodium thiopental to pentobarbital in the three-drug cocktail. The American manufacturer of sodium thiopental, Hospira, recently announced that it would no longer produce the drug, and manufacturers in Europe do not want to supply the drug if it will be used in executions because they oppose capital punishment.
A sodium thiopental substitute called phenobarbital can be used instead of sodium thiopental because both drugs are barbiturates that depress the central nervous system. Contaminated pentobarbital can lead to a very painful death and the compounding pharmacies that provide pentobarbital are very unreliable. The Food and Drug Administration does not approve the products of compounding pharmacies. Compounding pharmacies must be licensed by their state's pharmacy board, but do not have to register with the FDA or inform the FDA what drugs they are making. On November 18, 2013, Congress passed the Drug Quality and Security Act. President Obama signed the bill into law on November 27, 2013. The act allows large-scale compounding pharmacies to register as "outsourcing facilities," which will be subject to FDA regulations.
Compounding pharmacies in the U.S. may be accredited by the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board, but accreditation is not required. The Board requires that accredited pharmacies use high-quality chemicals and equipment, give pharmacists and medical staff regular training, test products for quality, and have an effective recall mechanism in place. Approximately 180 pharmacies in the U.S. have received accreditation.
The recent execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma was botched because the makers of one of the three drugs required, sodium thiopental, stopped producing it and phenobarbital was used as a substitute. Lockett died of a heart attack about 40 minutes after the execution began. Charles Warner, who was scheduled to be executed two hours later, was granted a stay because of the problem with the drug cocktail.
After being given three drugs that were supposed to kill him instantly, Lockett "began to twitch and gasp" after having been declared unconscious. He called out "man" and "something's wrong." He then "struggled violently, groaned and writhed, lifting his shoulders and head from the gurney before the blinds to the [execution] room were lowered 16 minutes after the execution began."3 It is likely that the execution was botched and Lockett suffered pain because the pentobarbital was contaminated. It was purchased from a compounding pharmacy that was not accredited.
In Oregon, where physician assisted suicide is legal (as long as the physician gives the drugs to the patient and the patient goes home and takes them by himself) almost all assisted suicides use barbiturates, either Seconal or Nembutal. Why not use Seconal, the less expensive of the two drugs, for executions? Many doctors believe that Seconal provides a painless death for terminally ill people so they can die with dignity instead of continuing to suffer. Assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, Washington, and Vermont. The other 47 states should follow their example. If condemned men on death row are told to take Seconal if they want death to be painless, most of them would swallow the pills. Those who refused to take the Seconal could always be injected with a lethal dose of an anesthetic.
The death penalty is used primarily to make the family and friends of the victim feel better, since they often want revenge and closure. It is likely that Seconal is not used to execute murderers because witnesses to an execution don't want to see the murderer die peacefully with a smile on his face. Most of the people in Oklahoma who knew the victim thought Lockett's suffering was nothing compared to what she suffered, after being shot and buried alive. When comparisons are made between states with the death penalty and states without, the majority of death penalty states show murder rates higher than non-death penalty states. The death penalty does not deter crime at all. During the last 20 years, the homicide rate in states with the death penalty has been 48% – 101% higher than in states without the death penalty.4
Michigan was the first U.S. state to abolish the death penalty in 1846. Unfortunately, very few other states followed suit at that time. The famous comedian Bill Maher stated on one of his shows that he is for the death penalty, as long as we "kill the right people." Unfortunately, this is impossible to do. No one can ever be completely sure that a person is guilty because the criminal justice system is far from perfect and human beings make mistakes frequently.
According to a new statistical study appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, about one in twenty-five people imprisoned under a death sentence is likely innocent.5 Due to the margin of error in the study, "the innocence rate is probably between 2.8 percent and 5.2 percent," according to University of South Carolina statistics professor John Grego.6 Vindictive killing is morally wrong even if it brings closure to the families and friends of the victims, because human beings are far from infallible. One of the Ten Commandments reads "Thou shalt not murder," not "Thou shall not murder, unless the person to be executed has been declared guilty of murder by a jury of twelve allegedly unbiased human beings."
The death penalty should be abolished as soon as possible, because between 2.8 percent to 5.2 percent is a completely unacceptable margin of error. How would you feel if your son were on death row and you knew he had been framed, especially if you could not afford to hire a private lawyer for him and he got an overworked public defender that spent very little time on his case? It is natural for people to want revenge when their loved ones are tortured to death, but that does not make revenge morally right. It is far better to let men convicted of first degree murder be sentenced to life in prison without parole and no visitation privileges than to let so many innocent people die. A living prisoner can be released (and possibly be given money from a law suit) if evidence later proves his innocence. Once a person is executed, it is too late to make amends.
1Phelps, Timothy M. (May 6, 2014) Study of death penalty in U.S. calls for overhaul. Los Angeles Times. (Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-death-penalty-20140507-story.html#).
2Phelps, Timothy M. (May 6, 2014) Study of death penalty in U.S. calls for overhaul. Los Angeles Times. (Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-death-penalty-20140507-story.html#).
3Downie, James. (April 30, 2014) Oklahoma's horrible 'botched execution' shows again why the death penalty should be abolished. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/james-downie/2013/02/06/9d151d06-70a8-11e2-8b8d-e0b59a1b8e2a_page.html)
4States without the death penalty have had consistently lower murder rates. Death Penalty Information Center. (Retrieved from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/deterrence-states-without-death-penalty-have-had-consistently-lower-murder-rates)
5Yost, Pete (April 28, 2014). Study: 1 in 25 death cases likely innocent. The Associated Press. (Retrieved from http://bigstory.ap.org/article/study-1-25-death-cases-likely-innocent)
6Yost, Pete (April 28, 2014). Study: 1 in 25 death cases likely innocent. The Associated Press. (Retrieved from http://bigstory.ap.org/article/study-1-25-death-cases-likely-innocent)
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Most doctors (other than chiropractors and orthopedic doctors) will not see uninsured patients even if they sign a letter of protection that promises payment when the case is settled. This is most likely due to the fact that cases often settle for less than the amount of the medical bills and doctors do not get paid the full amount after the case settles. In addition, some cases take 3-4 years to settle and most doctors don't want to wait that long to be paid. Our office is forced to turn down numerous cases because the accident victims have no health insurance and very few assets and there is no one with deep pockets to sue.
According to a new study by The Commonwealth Fund, there are more than 15 million uninsured or underinsured people living below the poverty level in the states that have refused to expand Medicaid under The Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare. According to this study, many of these states have very high rates of uninsured or underinsured people.1 In Texas, the largest state opting out of Medicaid expansion, more than two million very poor people who would otherwise have been insured will remain uninsured. Florida, Idaho, Montana, Mississippi, Louisiana, Wyoming, Georgia and North Carolina also rank near the top of the list of uninsured or underinsured Americans.
Nearly 45,000 annual deaths are associated with lack of health insurance, according to a study published in September, 2009 by the American Journal of Public Health. That figure is about two and a half times higher than an estimate from the Institute of Medicine in 2002. The study, conducted at Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance, found that uninsured, working-age people have a 40% higher risk of death than people with health insurance. The study, which analyzed data from national surveys carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, assessed death rates after taking into account education, income, and many other factors, including smoking, drinking, and obesity, and estimated that lack of health insurance causes 44,789 excess deaths annually. The study also estimated that as many as 17,000 people will die directly as a result of their states refusing to expand Medicaid. In Florida, that translates to about six deaths every day.
Although Florida Governor Rick Scott initially indicated that he was in favor of accepting the funds for expansion, he has changed his position on this issue. Florida rejected $51 billion dollars from the federal government over the period of a decade to overhaul its Medicaid program to include people who work, but do not make enough money to qualify for the Affordable Care Act's subsidies because they earn less than the poverty level. People who earn less than the federal poverty level will be harmed by the Affordable Care Act, which cuts disproportionate share funding to safety net hospitals, reducing the resources available to care for the remaining uninsured.
Steffie Wollhandler, study co-author, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and a primary care physician at Cambridge Health Alliance, noted: "Historically, every other developed nation has achieved universal health care through some form of nonprofit national health insurance. Our failure to do so means that all Americans pay higher health care costs, and 45,000 pay with their lives."
According to an article by Billy Manes called "The perils of Florida's refusal to expand Medicaid," an estimated 2,000 people are expected to face dire health issues due to lack of access to care.2 On March 21, 2014, Charlene Dill was supposed to bring her three children to the home of her best friend, Kathleen Voss Woolrich. These two women helped each other, forming a safety net where one did not exist. When Dill never showed up with her three kids, Woolrich sent Dill a text message – something along the lines of "Thanks for ditching me, LOL" – not knowing what had actually happened. Dill had a job selling vacuums on a commission basis for Rainbow Vacuums. On that day, she made two last-minute appointments. At one of those appointments, in Kissimmee, she collapsed and died on a stranger's floor.
Dill had a documented heart condition for which she took medication. Under the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid plays a key role in efforts to reduce the number of uninsured by expanding eligibility to nearly all low income adults with incomes at or below 133% of the federal poverty level. She was one of the people who fall into the gap created by the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed states to opt out of Medicaid expansion, which was a key part of the Affordable Care Act's intention to make health care available to all U.S. citizens, regardless of their income.
The Consequences of Opting Out of Medicaid Expansion
The Supreme Court's decision to allow states to opt out of Medicaid expansion will have adverse health and financial consequences. All low-income adults will face a greater likelihood of depression, catastrophic medical expenses, and death. Disparities in access to care based on state of residence will increase. Without Medicaid expansion, only people who make 100% of the poverty level or more can buy Obamacare, which leaves approximately 800,000 to 1.1 million Floridians without any medical insurance.
In the Affordable Care Act, the federal government offered to take on the cost for states to expand Medicaid – all of the cost through 2016 and at least 90% in later years – to the uninsured who earn up to 133% of the poverty level. Since Florida turned down the $51 billion dollars that could have closed the coverage gap, everyone who pays for insurance will be stuck with higher premiums to help cover the medical expenses of those who don't have coverage. In addition, Florida has failed to capitalize on the opportunity to create thousands of jobs to care for the newly insured.
There are two important things that the United States federal government can do to make health insurance affordable for all U.S. citizens, as follows:
1. Make smoking cigarettes illegal
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that approximately 443,000 people a year die because of cigarette use. Smoking is not considered a pre-existing health condition under Obamacare. As part of the negotiations to get coverage for those with preexisting conditions, insurance companies received the right to impose premium costs on smokers that are 50% higher than the same plan for non-smokers. Smokers are high-risk patients who need more care than non-smokers do. The huge premiums are a legal way to encourage smokers to quit. Insured people who continue to smoke put a financial strain on the entire healthcare system.
If smoking were illegal, everyone would gain — the insured, the healthcare providers and the healthcare insurers. Unlike marijuana, cigarettes have no medicinal value and will definitely harm a person's health. Millions of Americans have given up smoking tobacco products, which is not good news to the powerful tobacco lobby. A turn-of-the-century grandfather clause in U.S. tobacco law allows 400 to 6,000 additional chemicals to be added. Additions since then to the average tobacco cigarette are unknown and cigarette companies are under no obligation to reveal this information.
Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States. Despite the risks, approximately 46.6 million U.S. adults smoke cigarettes. Smokeless tobacco, cigars, and pipes also have deadly consequences, including lung, larynx, esophageal, and oral cancers. The harmful effects of smoking do not end with the smoker. An estimated 88 million nonsmoking Americans, including 54% of children aged 3–11 years, are exposed to secondhand smoke. Even brief exposure can be dangerous because nonsmokers inhale many of the same poisons in cigarette smoke as smokers.
Secondhand smoke exposure causes serious diseases and death, including heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults, sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more frequent and severe asthma attacks in children. Each year, primarily because of exposure to secondhand smoke, an estimated 3,000 nonsmoking Americans die of lung cancer, more than 46,000 die of heart disease, and about 150,000–300,000 children younger than 18 months have lower respiratory tract infections. An estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 46,000 heart disease deaths are attributed to exposure to secondhand smoke. It is much more important to keep Americans healthy than to keep the cigarette companies in business, especially since secondhand smoke is so dangerous to nonsmokers. According to the 2006 U.S. Surgeon General's report The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Both the Surgeon General and the Institute of Medicine have concluded that eliminating smoking from all indoor areas is the only way to fully protect people from exposure.
2. Overturn the federal law that makes recreational use of marijuana by adults illegal
Only naturally grown marijuana should be legal, not the synthetic variety. There are no non-harmful strains of synthetic marijuana. Some strains are extremely dangerous and deadly. According to an article in the Huffington Post posted on 09/11/2013, synthetic marijuana's non-cannabis herbs sprayed with lab-created chemicals which are said to give users a stronger high than THC can lead to seizures, hallucinations and convulsions as well as profoundly negative psychological effects. Many people have had to go to the emergency room after ingesting this synthetic drug, which is not medicinal like naturally grown marijuana. The symptoms of synthetic marijuana include vomiting, nausea, accelerated heart rate, and kidney damage.
As Colorado reports the tax revenue from marijuana, many states are very jealous. In January, Colorado received $2 million in tax dollars from recreational marijuana and $3.5 million in marijuana related taxes. Summer is expected to be even bigger, with tourists arriving to be able smoke marijuana legally. At this rate they could reap $40 million for the year. The initial money is to be spent for school construction; after that the state has yet to decide. It is no wonder cash-starved states are eyeing the rollback of marijuana prohibition.
According to an article written on March 11, 2014 by Kristen Wyatt with Associated Press, Colorado made roughly $2 million in marijuana taxes in January. The tax total reported by the state Department of Revenue indicates $14.02 million worth of recreational marijuana was sold from 59 businesses. Colorado legalized marijuana in 2012, but the commercial sale of marijuana didn't begin until January, 2014. The marijuana taxes come from 12.9% sales taxes and 15% excise taxes. Including licensing fees and taxes from Colorado's pre-existing medical marijuana industry, the state collected about $3.5 million from the marijuana industry in January. Washington state sales will begin this summer.
"Colorado's going to help the nation learn what works and what doesn't," stated Pat Oglesby, a former congressional tax staffer. The forecast by the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council showed that $51 million in revenue is expected for the 2015-2017 biennium from marijuana production and sales in the state of Washington. An additional $138.5 million is expected for the next two-year budget that ends mid-2019. A little under half of that revenue is expected from excise tax and license fees related to the marijuana market, and the rest is expected to come from retail sales tax and business taxes. If every state legalized recreational marijuana and brought in $25,000,000 per year or more, that is at least $1,250,000,000 dollars that could be used to make sure that all U.S. citizens have access to excellent healthcare, even if they earn less than the poverty level.
1 Easley, Jonathan (March 25, 2014 12:01 AM EDT). Study: States refusing Medicaid expansion would benefit the most. The Hill. Retrieved from http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/201527-study-states-refusing-medicaid-expansion-would#ixzz312epKVaJ
2 Manes, Billy (April 9, 2014). The perils of Florida's refusal to expand Medicaid. Orlando Weekly. Retrieved from http://orlandoweekly.com/news/the-perils-of-florida-s-refusal-to-expand-medicaid-1.1665144
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The post Medical Marijuana Should Be Legal In Every State appeared first on Porcaro Law Group.]]>
The federal government's official position is that marijuana, as a Schedule 1 substance, has no medical value. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even many of the most ardent critics of medical marijuana do not agree with the Schedule 1 classification, because it has impeded the ability to conduct research on the plant's potential therapeutic uses. Every U.S. commission or federal judge who has studied the evidence has agreed that cannabis is a very safe drug. The U.S. holds a patent on medical marijuana, Patent No. 6630507, which explains how cannabinoids are neuroprotectants and can treat neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke or trauma. Given that the U.S. holds this patent, the federal government's position that marijuana has no medical value is absurd.
Even though marijuana is still an illegal drug under federal law, the Justice Department is not challenging state marijuana laws as long as they do not conflict with federal enforcement priorities. These priorities include selling pot to minors and funneling marijuana revenue to gangs and cartels. Medical marijuana is now legal in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Alaska, Illinois, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Washington D.C., Hawaii and Oregon. Recreational use of marijuana and medical marijuana are legal in Colorado and Washington state.
Every day we trust physicians to determine whether or not the risks associated with therapeutic, yet potentially dangerous prescription drugs are acceptable for their patients. With all its therapeutic uses, marijuana has only one side effect that has been exaggerated as a concern: the "high." The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) believes this side effect is not acceptable, so cannabis continues to be illegal in utter disregard for both doctor and patient. This side effect should be acceptable, as long as people do not drive or do anything dangerous while they are under the influence of medical marijuana. Even though marijuana can help treat chronic pain, doctors usually prescribe oxycodone and hydrocodone to treat chronic pain, and these narcotics can be addictive or even fatal if too many are taken at one time.
The short-term effects of marijuana include immediate, temporary changes in thoughts, perceptions and information processing. Marijuana can cause impaired reaction time and motor skills. It can also cause food cravings, so it is not helpful to obese people who want to lose weight. The cognitive process most clearly affected by marijuana is short-term memory. People under the influence of marijuana usually have no trouble remembering things they learned previously. However, they temporarily display diminished capacity to learn and recall new information. This diminishment only lasts for the duration of the intoxication. A recent, large-scale, longitudinal study of adult marijuana users corroborates earlier findings that marijuana produces no long-term negative effects on cognitive skills in adults.
Young, developing brains are more susceptible to harm from marijuana than adult brains. Some recent studies suggest that regular use in teenage years leads to a permanent decrease in IQ. Many people believe that making medical marijuana legal will make it easier for teenagers to buy, but the opposite is true. Rates of marijuana use among young people decrease when a state adopts medical marijuana, because access is decreased when marijuana moves from street drug dealers to inside licensed dispensaries, where you need a prescription to buy marijuana.
While cannabis intoxication varies with psychological set and social setting, the most common response is a calm, mildly euphoric state in which time slows and sensitivity to sights, sounds and touch is enhanced. A possible adverse reaction to marijuana may be a panic or anxiety attack. Many opponents of medical marijuana make much of the purported link between marijuana use and mental illness, but there is no compelling evidence to support the claim that marijuana is a causal risk factor for developing a psychiatric disorder in healthy individuals. A recent study conducted by Harvard University researchers found that marijuana is unlikely to be the cause of any illness, even in people who may be genetically predisposed to schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders. The researchers concluded that cannabis does not cause psychosis by itself. In genetically vulnerable individuals, while cannabis may modify the illness onset, severity and outcome, there is no evidence from this study that it can cause the psychosis.
On average, a person dies every 19 minutes in this country from a legal prescription drug overdose, while it is virtually unheard of to die from a marijuana overdose. When 80-year old Willie Nelson was a guest on HBO's Bill Maher show, Bill said "I have living proof that you cannot overdose on marijuana standing right next to me!" This elderly country singer is well known for smoking very strong marijuana frequently and he is still singing.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is the chief medical correspondent for the Health, Medical and Wellness unit at CNN. He says that he has seen marijuana turned into medicine that has quelled epilepsy in children and pain in adults. He has also seen it help a woman at the peak of her life to overcome the ravages of multiple sclerosis. He believes that marijuana can treat many diseases.
What does medical marijuana treat?
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
The human immunodeficiency virus is a retrovirus that invades cells in the human immune system, making it highly susceptible to infectious diseases. According to the World Health Organization, more than 500,000 Americans have died from HIV/AIDS and more than one million U.S. citizens are living with the disease. Cannabis is used by many people living with HIV/AIDS to treat symptoms of the disease as well as the side-effects of various antiretroviral medications. HIV/AIDS patients who inhale cannabis four times daily experience reduced HIV-associated neuropathy.
Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurological disorder of unknown origin that is characterized by a progressive loss of memory and learned behavior. Patients with Alzheimer's are also likely to experience depression, agitation and appetite loss. No approved treatments or medications are available to stop the progression of the disease. Cannabinoid therapy provides symptomatic relief to patients afflicted with AD and also moderates the progression of the disease.
ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease)
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by the selective loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord, brain stem, and motor cortex. An estimated 30,000 Americans are living with ALS, which often arises spontaneously and afflicts otherwise healthy adults. There is no cure for this disease. More than half of ALS patients die within 2.5 years following the onset of symptoms. Cannabinoids delay ALS progression, moderate the disease's development, and alleviate some ALS-related symptoms such as pain, appetite loss, depression and drooling.
Antibiotic CBD Disinfectants
Young un-budded hemp plants provide extractions of CBDs (cannabidiolic acids). There are many antibiotic uses of the cannabidiols, including treatment for gonorrhea. A 1990 Florida study indicated its use in treating herpes. The acid side of tetrahydrocannabinol cannabidiols occur inversely to the amount of the plant's THC and is therefore more acceptable to prohibitionists because it won't get you high. Direct contact with THC killed the herpes virus in a University of South Florida (Tampa) 1990 research study by Dr. Gerald Lancz, who warned that although "smoking marijuana will not cure herpes," anecdotal reports indicate a faster drying and healing of the outbreak after topical application of "strong bud," soaked in rubbing alcohol and crushed into a paste.
More than 15 million Americans are affected by asthma. Smoking cannabis (the "raw drug" as the AMA called it) would be beneficial for 80% of them. Smoking a little bit of marijuana has been known to stop a full blown asthma attack.
Gliomas (tumors in the brain) are especially aggressive malignant forms of cancer, often resulting in the death of the patient within 1-2 years following diagnosis. There is no cure for gliomas and most available treatments provide only minor symptomatic relief. Studies demonstrate cannabinoids' ability to act as antineoplastic agents, particularly on glioma cell lines. Delta-9-THC induced apoptosis (programmed cell death) in glioma cells in culture.
In addition to cannabinoids' ability to moderate glioma cells, separate studies demonstrate that cannabinoids and endocannabinoids can also inhibit the proliferation of other various cancer cell lines, including breast carcinoma, prostate carcinoma, colorectal carcinoma, gastric adenocarcinoma, skin carcinoma, leukemia cells, neuroblastoma, lung carcinoma, uterus carcinoma, thyroid epithelioma, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, cervical carcinoma, oral cancer, biliary tract cancer, and lymphoma. Some experts now believe that cannabinoids retard cancer growth.
Chronic Pain
Many Americans live with chronic pain. Some of these people suffer from neuropathic pain, a condition that is associated with numerous diseases, including diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and HIV. In most cases, the use of standard analgesic medications such as opiates and NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) is ineffective at relieving neuropathic pain. Further, long-term use of most conventional pain relievers, including acetaminophen, opioids, and NSAIDs, is associated with a host of potential adverse side effects, including stroke, heart-attack, and death resulting from an accidental overdose. Marijuana is sometimes a better pain reliever than opioids.
Epilepsy is a central nervous system disorder characterized by uncontrollable twitching of the arms or legs and/or seizures. Charlotte Figi is a child whose brain was locked in nearly nonstop seizure activity. She suffered from Dravet Syndrome, a severe form of intractable epilepsy. Doctors tried seven different medications, stringent diets and high-dose supplements without success. For Dravet Syndrome, the American Epilepsy Society says that there are approximately one million people for whom existing therapies do not control their seizures. The society recently said anecdotes about medical marijuana "give reason for hope" and said it supports "well-controlled studies that will lead to a better understanding of the disease and the development of safe and effective treatments." The marijuana strain Charlotte and other patients use to ease painful symptoms of epilepsy has been named after the little girl who is getting her life back one day at a time. It's called Charlotte's Web, and it does not get children "high" because it is a strain of marijuana high in CBD and low in THC.
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain syndrome of unknown etiology. The disease is characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue and multiple tender points in the neck, spine, shoulders and hips. An estimated 3 to 6 million Americans are afflicted by fibromyalgia, which is often poorly controlled by standard pain medications.
Inhaled marijuana can significantly alleviate neuropathic pain. Preclinical data indicates that cannabinoids, when administered in concert with one another, are more effective at ameliorating neuropathic pain than the use of a single agent. The administration of single cannabinoids such as THC or CBD produce limited relief compared to the administration of plant extracts containing multiple cannabinoids, terpenes (oils), and flavonoids (pigments).
GI Disorders
Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, including functional bowel diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease (CD) and colitis, afflict more than one in five Americans, particularly women. While some GI disorders may be controlled by diet and pharmaceutical medications, others are poorly moderated by conventional treatments. Symptoms of GI disorders often include cramping, abdominal pain, inflammation of the lining of the large and/or small intestine, chronic diarrhea, rectal bleeding and weight loss.
Observational trial data reports that cannabis therapy use is associated with a reduction in Crohn's disease activity and disease-related hospitalizations. Investigators at the Meir Medical Center, Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology assessed disease activity, use of medication, need for surgery, and hospitalization before and after cannabis use in 30 patients with Crohn's disease. Authors reported, "All patients stated that consuming cannabis had a positive effect on their disease activity" and documented "significant improvement" in 21 subjects. Researchers found that subjects who used cannabis significantly reduced their need for other medications.
Fourteen percent of all blindness in America is caused by glaucoma, a progressive loss of vision. Cannabis smoking would benefit 90% of our 2.5 million glaucoma victims, and is two to three times as effective as any current medicines for reducing ocular pressure. Cannabis use has no toxic side effects to the liver and kidneys; nor is there any danger of the occasional sudden death syndromes associated with the legal pharmaceutical glaucoma drugs and drops.
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is a viral disease of the liver that afflicts an estimated four million Americans. Chronic hepatitis C is typically associated with fatigue, depression, joint pain and liver impairment, including cirrhosis and liver cancer. Patients diagnosed with hepatitis C frequently report that cannabis treats both the symptoms of the disease as well as the nausea associated with antiviral therapy.
Huntington's Disease
Huntington's Disease (HD) is an inherited degenerative brain disorder characterized by motor abnormalities and dementia produced by selective lesions in the cerebral cortex and, in particular, the striatum. There are presently no known conventional therapies available to alleviate HD symptoms or delay HD-associated striatal degeneration. Cannabinoids may possess potential to moderate the advancement of the disease, but more research is necessary to determine whether or not marijuana is capable of delaying the progression of this disease.
Lung Cleaner and Expectorant
Cannabis is the best natural expectorant to clear the human lungs of smog, dust and the phlegm associated with tobacco use. Marijuana smoke effectively dilates the airways of the lungs, the bronchi, opening them to allow more oxygen into the lungs. It is also the best natural dilator of the tiny airways of the lungs, the bronchial tubes, making cannabis the best overall bronchial dilator for many people. Many joggers and marathon runners feel cannabis use cleans their lungs, allowing better endurance.
Migraine Headache Relief
While tobacco constricts arteries, cannabis opens them. Because migraine headaches are the result of artery spasms combined with over-relaxation of veins, the vascular changes cannabis causes in the covering of the brain (the meninges) usually make migraines disappear.
Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic degenerative disease of the central nervous system that causes inflammation, muscular weakness and a loss of motor coordination. Over time, MS patients typically become permanently disabled and, in some cases, the disease can be fatal. According to the U.S. National Multiple Sclerosis Society, about 200 people are diagnosed every week with the disease — often striking those only 20 to 40 years of age.
Clinical and anecdotal reports of cannabinoids' ability to reduce MS-related symptoms such as pain, spasticity, depression, fatigue, and incontinence are plentiful. Studies suggest that cannabinoids may also inhibit MS progression in addition to providing symptom management. Investigators have also reported that the administration of oral THC can boost immune function in patients with MS.
Nausea Relief
"Marijuana is the best agent for control of nausea in cancer chemotherapy," according to Dr. Thomas Ungerleider, who headed California's Marijuana for Cancer research program from 1979 to 1984. It can also relieve nausea caused by motion sickness. Pharmaceutical nausea control drugs come in pills that are often swallowed by the patient, only to be thrown back up. Because cannabis can be ingested as smoke, it stays in the system and keeps working even if vomiting continues. Throughout the state's 10-year Compassionate Marijuana Medical law, George Deukmejian, both as attorney general and as governor, made it virtually impossible for terminal cancer patients to get cannabis. Californa Governor Pete Wilson was following the same course until the medical marijuana initiative passed in November 1996.
Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a disorder of the brain that causes muscular tremors resulting in difficulty walking, controlling movement, and coordination. PD is caused by a change in the homeostasis of the endocannabinoid system in the body. The nerve cells that produce dopamine are slowly destroyed without which the brain cannot properly process messages. The result is loss of muscle function that worsens over time.
There is no cure for Parkinson's disease. A few pharmaceutical drugs have been developed to control the symptoms, but as with many pharmaceutical drugs, the side effects are usually severe. Cannabis is a safe alternative to pharmaceuticals. Preliminary evidence indicates that it is a powerful treatment for PD and other neurological disorders.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory disease of the joints characterized by pain, stiffness, and swelling, as well as an eventual loss of limb function. Rheumatoid arthritis is estimated to affect about one percent of the population, primarily women. It is possible that cannabinoid therapy could provide symptomatic relief of joint pain and swelling as well as suppressing joint destruction and disease progression. Rheumatism was treated throughout South America until the 1960s with hemp leaves and/or flower tops heated in water or alcohol and placed on painful joints. In fact, this form of herbal medicine is still widely used in rural areas of Mexico, Central and South America, and by California Latinos for relief of rheumatism and arthritis pain.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a medical disorder characterized by frequent interruptions in breathing of up to ten seconds or more during sleep. The condition is associated with numerous physiological disorders, including fatigue, headaches, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, heart attack and stroke. Though sleep apnea often goes undiagnosed, it is estimated that approximately 4% of men and 2% of women between 30 and 60 years old suffer from this disease. A limited number of preclinical studies assess the role of cannabinoids on sleep-related apnea. More research should be done in this area.
Sleep and Relaxation
Cannabis lowers blood pressure, dilates the arteries and reduces body temperature an average of one-half degree, thereby relieving stress. Evening cannabis smokers often report more restful sleep. Using cannabis allows most people a more complete rest with a higher amount of "alpha time" during sleep as compared with prescription or sleep-inducing patent sedatives. Prescription sleeping pills (the so called "legal, safe and effective" drugs) are often just synthesized analogs of truly dangerous plants like mandrake, henbane and belladonna.
Tourette's Syndrome
Tourette's syndrome (TS) is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder of unknown etiology that is characterized by involuntary vocal tics. The severity of this condition varies widely among patients. Therapy with delta-9-THC might help people with TS, but more research must be done to determine conclusively if this is true.
Cannabidiol (CBD) and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are the principal cannabinoids found in cannabis. When ingested they have a synergistic effect, reducing inflammation, controlling spasms, and preventing neurological damage. Medical evidence clearly indicates that cannabis is the best overall treatment for all diseases where the neurological system of the body is disrupted, because this disruption is counteracted by the neuroprotective properties of cannabis. Cannabis helps young children with epileptic seizures without getting them high and it helps adults live with chronic pain and enjoy life in greater dignity and comfort.
All Floridians should vote yes for medical marijuana in November, 2014 when it is on the ballot. 60% of Florida's voters must vote yes in order for doctors to be allowed to prescribe medical marijuana to patients who are suffering, patients for whom traditional medical treatments do not work. Please help end the unnecessary suffering of millions of Americans with debilitating diseases by voting yes this November and making this wonderful medicinal plant legal and affordable for all who need it.
The post Medical Marijuana Should Be Legal In Every State appeared first on Porcaro Law Group.]]>
The post Toyota and General Motors Put Profit Before Safety and Pay the Price appeared first on Porcaro Law Group.]]>
Toyota Motor Corp. will pay $1.2 billion in what U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said was the largest criminal penalty ever levied on an automaker in the U.S. to settle a criminal investigation. The sudden unintended acceleration led to the recall of more than 10 million vehicles for problems including faulty brakes, sticky gas pedals, and improper or misplaced floor mats that resulted in fatal accidents. Toyota fully admitted wrongdoing, and agreed to pay the penalty. Toyota will also be charged with wire fraud, with the prosecution deferred for three years, as long as the company continues to cooperate with authorities.
Toyota's conduct showed a blatant disregard for laws designed to protect consumers. Toyota executives faced congressional hearings in 2010 concerning why it took so long to warn customers and recall the vehicles. Christopher Reynolds, chief legal officer of Toyota Motor North America, stated, "At the time of these recalls, we took full responsibility for any concerns our actions may have caused customers, and we rededicated ourselves to earning their trust." In addition to fixing the floor mats and pedals, Toyota added more checks and balances to the vehicle development process to ensure safe, quality vehicles and to rebuild the public's trust. Toyota also restructured to provide more power and autonomy in its regional centers instead of controlling everything from its headquarters in Japan.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigated the software and electronics in Toyota's vehicles, but did not find any electrical malfunction that may have contributed to sudden acceleration. Nevertheless, Toyota was deluged by personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits. While the $1.2 billion penalty is the biggest ever for a carmaker, it still represents a very small fraction of the $60+ billion that Toyota has in cash reserves.
Toyota is not the only carmaker that has safety problems. The Justice Department is now investigating General Motors (G.M.) failure to fix cars equipped with defective ignition switches that can shut off engines and disable air bags. G.M. knew not only that the ignition switches in these cars were faulty, but also, it knew that the problem was exacerbated by the position of the switch where it is easily bumped. 1.6 million vehicles have been recalled because of these defective ignition switches.
Mary T. Barra recently became the new chief executive of General Motors. In a conference room at G.M. headquarters, Barra stated "Our goal is to make sure that something like this never happens again." She admitted that she learned in late December that internal safety committees were analyzing defects in the Chevrolet Cobalt, more than a month before the company decided to issue its recall, but she said she did not know the serious nature of the defects until Jan. 31, when she was informed that two safety committees had concluded that a recall is necessary. Her performance was a marked departure from the norm in the auto industry, where corporate chiefs routinely avoid discussing recalls unless subpoenaed by Congress.
Barra still faces investigations from two congressional committees, federal safety regulators and the Justice Department — all paying keen attention to any public statements she makes. Ms. Barra apologized for G.M.'s failings in a video to employees, named a new top executive to oversee safety issues, and participated in a session with reporters to take responsibility for the company's inexplicable delay in addressing the safety problem.
G.M. was recently hit with a lawsuit demanding that the company be held liable for allegedly concealing ignition problems before its 2009 bankruptcy. Authorities are also investigating whether G.M. understated the defect to federal safety regulators. G.M. is a different legal entity than the one that filed the 2009 bankruptcy that shook the U.S. economy. The so-called new G.M. is not responsible under the terms of its bankruptcy agreement for legal claims relating to incidents that took place before July, 2009.
Consumer complaints and claims came to G.M. in a variety of ways — through lawsuits, calls, letters and emails, warranty claims, and insurance claims. G.M.'s legal staff was the recipient of lawsuits, insurance information, accident reports and any other litigation-related paperwork. Warranty claims and customer calls were routed through the sales and service division — a vast bureaucracy that occupies most of one tower at G.M.'s headquarters in Detroit. Because the legal staff reports to the chief executive, and the sales department to the head of G.M. North America, it is unclear whether they share information related to a specific car, like the Cobalt. An even bigger communication gap on the Cobalt appeared to exist between the engineers in Warren, MI, and the company lawyers in Detroit. The most glaring example was that G.M. officials meeting with federal regulators in March 2007 did not know about a fatal Cobalt wreck in 2005 — even though G.M.'s legal department had an open file on the case for almost two years.
Within the product development system was an isolated subgroup of engineers assigned to Cobalt safety tests. According to the chronology G.M. has submitted to federal safety regulators, an unknown number of engineers were involved in opening and closing four separate inquiries on the Cobalt between 2004 and 2009. Records showed beyond any doubt that substandard ignition switches had been made for the Cobalt at a Delphi plant from 2004 to late 2006. The part had been changed, and every switch made before the change was potentially a fatal accident waiting to happen.
The Motor Vehicle Safety Act was a proposal in 2010 that would have provided more money to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to investigate auto defects and make more information available to the public from a database maintained by the government of early warnings made up of notices from carmakers about potential defects. This proposal would have significantly helped force carmakers to recall problematic vehicles before many people died. Unfortunately, this bill was never passed.
The Toyota and G.M. cases suggest that significant defects can easily escape the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's notice. This is a growing problem because the complexity of electronics and other technology in cars that make it more difficult to identify flaws and their causes. The agency needs more investigators — it had only 28 investigators last year, barely up from 26 in 2001 just after Congress passed the last major auto-safety law in the wake of the Ford Explorer-Firestone tire debacle. In that case, the treads peeled off tires, causing the sport utility vehicles to roll over, a defect that was eventually linked to 271 deaths.
Congress should increase the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's resources. Lawmakers should also give the agency the power to levy much bigger fines. The law currently allows fines of up to $5,000 per car, up to a maximum of $35 million, on carmakers that fail to disclose a defect in a timely manner. Either lawmakers should eliminate that upper limit or raise it substantially to deter automakers from delaying or avoiding recalls. Legislators should also give officials the power to pursue criminal penalties in cases where automakers actively conceal information about defects. Toyota and G.M. failed the public, but federal regulators and a Congress that denied them the weapons they need are complicit in that failure.
The post Toyota and General Motors Put Profit Before Safety and Pay the Price appeared first on Porcaro Law Group.]]>
The post DUI Manslaughter – Mario Careaga's Alleged Crime appeared first on Porcaro Law Group.]]>
22-year old cheerleader Nancy Lopez-Ruiz had just been hired by the Miami Heat for a dancing job. She was supposed to start performing publicly in October 2010. Before she had a chance to begin her dancing career, 46-year old Mario Careaga slammed into her with his 2009 Mercedes while she was sitting on her Suzuki sport motorcycle and putting on her helmet. She died at the scene of the accident after being struck by this car on September 10, 2010. The accident happened in Fort Lauderdale, where Sunrise Blvd. separates from Federal Highway, and drivers heading west sometimes don't realize that they have to stay in the right lane to avoid finding themselves suddenly headed south. According to Fort Lauderdale Police, the force of the crash threw the 22-year-old Lopez-Ruiz more than 130 feet in the air! The accident was videotaped and the jurors had the opportunity to watch the videotape on March 18, 2014.
Mario Careaga, a Fort Lauderdale insurance executive, had blood alcohol levels of .24 percent and .23 percent that were measured in two samples after the crash, according to probable cause affidavit. This is three times the legal limit of 0.8! After a long discovery period, a jury was finally chosen for the trial of Mario Careaga more than three years later, on March 19, 2014.
There are several different machines on the market used for analyzing a DUI suspect's blood alcohol level (BAC). The most current generation of breath analysis machines (still commonly referred to as "breathalyzers"), analyze the alcohol content of exhaled vapor through a method called infrared spectroscopic analysis. The latter method of analysis is based on the scientific principal that captured alcohol vapor absorbs light waves of a particular frequency in the presence of light, depending on the amount of alcohol present. A computer translates this data into the more familiar BAC measurement used to determine the level of alcohol in a person's bloodstream.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vital Signs: Alcohol-Impaired Driving Among Adults – United States, 2010; available at http://www.cdc.gov, every two hours, three people are killed in alcohol-related highway crashes. The consequences of drinking and driving are arrests, property damage, injuries, and thousands of deaths each year. An estimated 4 million U.S. adults reported driving under the influence of alcohol at least once in 2010—yielding an estimated 112 million alcohol-impaired driving episodes. Men accounted for 81 percent of these incidents.1
DUI manslaughter is a second degree felony, for which the penalty is up to a $10,000 fine and/or 15 years in prison. Due to recent law enforcement trends that focus on preventing DUI by penalizing offenders harshly, most district attorney offices refuse to negotiate plea bargains in DUI manslaughter cases. Even if Careaga is sentenced to 15 years in prison, Nancy's parents will never get their daughter back, but at least the end of the trial might bring them closure. At least they will know that justice has been served.
1U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vital Signs: Alcohol-Impaired Driving among Adults – United States, 2010; available at http://www.cdc.gov as of April 2012.
The post DUI Manslaughter – Mario Careaga's Alleged Crime appeared first on Porcaro Law Group.]]>


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If you happen to visit the PVS-Studio order page, you'll notice that the prices are not displayed anymore. Instead of offering a fixed price, we suggest that you contact us to discuss it individually. It's just an experiment for now whose outcome we cannot predict. Having removed the prices, we don't mean that they will rise. Just on the contrary, we want to offer PVS-Studio to small teams at lower prices. If you want to find out what changes our pricing policy has undergone and why we consider trying the new selling scheme, you are welcome to read further. I'm sure those who don't only develop products, but also have to sell them will find something interesting too.
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COMSOL Conference Boston 2012: Early Bird Abstract Submission Deadline Fast Approaching
Jinlan Huang | June 7, 2012
It's already the month of June, and the early bird abstract submission deadline for this year's conference in Boston is nearly upon us. June 15th marks the last day of the opportunity to receive a reduced registration fee of $195 for those who want to submit an abstract.
If you are working on something worth sharing with over 150,000 people, this is your chance. Once accepted by the COMSOL Conference Program Committee, abstracts and papers are featured on the next conference CD, which reaches a worldwide audience.
Submitting an abstract is easy: simply go to the Call for Papers page and follow the on-screen instructions. Not certain your abstract will be entirely ready for June 15th? Don't worry; even if you submit your abstract by the early bird deadline you have the option to make edits to it up until the final submission deadline.
If you have any questions, feel free to check out the FAQ page, or send me an email at firstname.lastname@example.com.
We look forward to reviewing your abstract!
Article TagsCOMSOL Conference 2012
COMSOL Conference Bangalore 2012: Early Bird Abstract Submission Deadline coming up in July
Mehdi Sahranavard June 13, 2012 at 3:44 am
I seriously love will learn ComSol software soon and participate in your conferences.
Thank very much
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The Secret Life Of
Hosted by Jim O'Connor and George Duran
Secret Life of... Dumplings
Dumplings are a food that's prevalent in one form or another in every culture around the world. Get ready; we're about to do a lot of globetrotting as we sink our teeth into the Secret life of Dumplings!
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BOOKS Program Celebrity Read-Along
|Master Hidy Ochiai, Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame inductee, and reader of "The Farmer and the Poor God".
An example of Action for Older Persons' focus on bringing the generations together is AOP's teaming with the BOOKS with Senator Libous Project and Binghamton University to present a Celebrity Read-Along on the BOOKS Program website at www.booksprogram.com.
You can take a child on a visit to the website and actually hear the story read out loud through the use of audio streaming across the Internet. When you click on "About the Star" you can learn more about the star reader. When you click on "Why the star liked the book" you'll year a recording of why the reader thought the book was fun to read.
A sample of books available on the site include:
The Library Dragon, written by Carmen Agra Deedy, read by "Star Reader" Janet Ottman, Director of Your Home Public Library in Johnson City.
Salt in His Shoes, written by Deloris Jordan, read by Stuart Naismith, AOP APEL Volunteer and grandson of the founder of the game of basketball.
The Great Poochini, written by Gary Clement, read by Duane Skrabalak, Artistic Director of the Tri-Cities Opera.
A Police Officer... that's what I'll be!, written by Ronald Pinkston, read by David Harder, Broome County Sheriff.
The Farmer and the Poor God, written by Ruth Wells, read by Master Hidy Ochiai, World Class Martial Artist.
Featured books are available at local libraries and a copy of each of the books is available for AOP Members to use with our high-speed Internet connected computers.
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