A bill that would have made Minnesota the 13th medical marijuana state died for lack of a House floor vote before the state legislature adjourned Tuesday. A companion bill had passed the Senate earlier in the session, but even if the House had passed it, it faced a veto threat from Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
The bill, HF 655, would have allowed patients with specified chronic debilitating conditions to possess up to 12 plants and 2.5 ounces of marijuana. Patients would have been able to designate caregivers to grow for them. The bill also called for patients to register with the state after obtaining a written recommendation from a physician, registered nurse, or physician's assistant.
Although the Minnesota medical marijuana bill could not clear the final legislative hurdle this year, supporters said their success this year left them well-positioned for next year. Under the state's two-year session, next year's drive will begin with the legislation having already passed the Senate, and with the momentum of an unbroken string of committee wins.
"We are in a very strong position to pass this sensible, compassionate bill into law next year, and making sure that happens will be a top priority," said Rep. Tom Huntley (DFL-Duluth) in a press release from Minnesotans for Compassionate Care (MCC), a coalition of citizens, patients, medical professionals and others working to pass the bill.
"Passage of the medical marijuana bill in the Senate this year gave the effort incredible momentum, and I look forward to passing the House in 2008," added Sen. Steve Murphy (DFL-Red Wing).
Another legislative supporter, bill cosponsor and former House speaker Rep. Steve Sviggum (R-Kenyon) vowed to work on bringing Gov. Pawlenty around in the mean time. "I look forward to having a continuing dialogue with the governor about the need to protect seriously ill patients who use medical marijuana, and about the safeguards built into this legislation," he said. "I'm confident we will pass it when we return next year because it's the right thing to do."
Last month, New Mexico became the latest state to enact a medical marijuana law when Gov. Bill Richardson, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, signed a bill into law there. That gave some hope to MCC director Neal Levine. "As states like New Mexico continue to step forward and new research continues to document the relief that medical marijuana can provide for suffering patients, the momentum is overwhelming," said Levine. "No Minnesotan should fear arrest and jail simply for trying to stay alive, and I have no doubt that 2008 will be the year that protection for patients becomes law."
If that is indeed the case, Minnesota will join Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington as medical marijuana states.
THC is a very potent
THC is a very potent chemical compared to other psychoactive drugs.
An intravenous (IV) dose of only one milligram (mg) can produce serious mental and psychological effects. Once in your bloodstream, THC typically reaches the brain within seconds after it is inhaled and begins to go to work. Neurons are the cells that process information in the brain.
Chemicals called neurotransmitters allow neurons to communicate with each other.
Neurotransmitters fill the gap, or synapse, between two neurons and bind to protein receptors, which enable various functions and allow the brain and body to be turned on and off.
Foreign chemicals, like THC, can mimic or block actions of neurotransmitters and interfere with normal functions.
In your brain, there are groups of cannabinoid receptors concentrated in several different places. These cannabinoid receptors have an effect on several mental and physical activities, including:
Short-term memory
Coordination
Learning
Problem solving
Cannabinoid receptors are activated by a neurotransmitter called anandamide. Anandamide belongs to a group of chemicals called cannabinoids. THC is also a cannabinoid chemical.
THC mimics the actions of anandamide, meaning that THC binds with cannabinoid receptors and activates neurons, which causes adverse effects on the mind and body.
High concentrations of cannabinoid receptors exist in the hippocampus, cerebellum and basal ganglia. The hippocampus is located within the temporal lobe and is important for short-term memory.
When the THC binds with the cannabinoid receptors inside the hippocampus, it interferes with the recollection of recent events.
THC also affects coordination, which is controlled by the cerebellum.
The basal ganglia controls unconscious muscle movements, which is another reason why motor coordination is impaired when under the influence of marijuana.
Marijuana is filled with hundreds of chemicals, and when it is burned, hundreds of additional compounds are produced.
When marijuana is inhaled or ingested in some other form, several short-term effects occur. Some of the marijuana's side effects are:
Problems with memory and learning
Distorted perception
Difficulty with thinking and problem solving
Loss of coordination
Increased heart rate
Anxiety, paranoia and panic attacks
The initial effects created by the THC in marijuana wear off after an hour or two, but the chemicals stay in your body for much longer.
The terminal half-life of THC is from about 20 hours to 10 days, depending on the amount and potency of the marijuana used.
This means that if you take one milligram of THC that has a half-life of 20 hours, you will still have 0.031 mg of THC in your body more than four days later.
Ongoing studies now show a number of possible symptoms associated with the cessation of marijuana use. These symptoms most commonly include: irritability, nervousness, depression, anxiety and even anger.
Other symptoms are restlessness, severe changes in appetite, violent outbursts, interrupted sleep or even insomnia.
In addition to these possible physical effects, psychological dependence usually develops because a person's mind craves the high that it gets when using the drug.
KINDA LIKE CRACK COCAINE EVEN THOUGH POT IS NOT A STIMULANT
Beyond these effects that marijuana has, marijuana smokers are susceptible to the same health problems as tobacco smokers, such as bronchitis, emphysema and bronchial asthma. Other effects include dry-mouth, red eyes, impaired motor skills and impaired concentration.
Long-term use of the drug can increase the risk of damaging the lungs and reproductive system, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). It has also been linked to heart attacks.
Typical THC levels, which determines marijuana potency, range from 0.3 to 4 percent. However, some specially grown plants can contain THC levels as high as 15 percent
During early development, cannabidiolic acid is the most prevalent chemical. Later, cannabidiolic acid is converted to cannabidiol, which is later converted to THC
In 2003, drug law enforcement authorities seized 2.7 million pounds (1.2 million kg)of marijuana from illegal operations. Marijuana is also smuggled into the United States from Mexico, Cambodia and Thailand, among other countries.
Approximately 10 percent to 20 percent of the THC is transferred into the body when smoking a joint
About 40 percent to 50 percent of the THC is transferred into the body when using a pipe.
Tens of thousands of people are now in prison for marijuana offenses. An even greater number are punished with probation, fines, and civil sanctions, including having their property seized, their driver's license revoked, and their employment terminated.
People who are intoxicated constantly, regardless of the drug, are unlikely to be productive members of society.
Among high school students, heavy use is associated with school failure, but school failure usually comes first.
The cognitive process most clearly affected by marijuana is short-term memory.
However, they display diminished capacity to learn and recall new information.
NOW ITS YOUR CHOICE
1 JOINT MIGHT NOT KILL YOU OR ANYONE
BUT ITS NEVER 1 JOINT
ITS NEVER 1 DRINK
ITS NEVER 1 SNORT
AND LOOK AT ALL THE FACTS AT WHAT THEY CAN DO
RESEARCH WHAT ALCOHOL AND SMOKING CIGARETTES DO TO THE BODY AND YOU WILL SEE SIMILARITIES AS WELL AS OTHER DRUGS AND YOU BEGIN TO SEE THE ALTERNATIVES THAT ADDICTS TURN TO WHEN LEAVING 1 DRUG FOR ANOTHER
Kaiser Health researchers have published a study showing that marijuana use is correlated with a significant increase in the risk of hospitalization due to injuries. The study, published in the April 2003 edition of the Annals of Epidemiology, covered 64,657 subjects from Northern California, of whom 13,971 were current marijuana users. Researchers found that among men, current marijuana users had a 28% higher rate of hospitalization due to injuries than non-users; among women, the increase was 37%; namely that accidents are the number one health hazard from marijuana use.
Curiously, men who used marijuana more frequently (>1x per week) had a lower injury rate than those who used it only occasionally (risk ratios 1.36 and 2.00 respectively). For women, risks increased with frequency of use. However, in the case of motor vehicle accidents, frequent use of marijuana (>1x per week) was associated with a greater than two-fold increase in injuries in both men and women (2.47 and 2.18 respectively).
The Kaiser study also found a significantly higher rate of injuries due to assaults in males (risk ratio 1.90), a result which is difficult to explain as due to marijuana impairment. Like other drug users, marijuana users are known to have a higher risk preference than the general population, and may therefore be more likely to find themselves in dangerous situations.
Sure its not a big amount but what if its your friend or neighbor who was the one high while driving that night that hurt or killed one of your family members ?
But if you're behind the wheel and you kill or paralyze my family and I find you
Theres gonna be hell to pay
http://www.iamthewitness.com/DarylBr...eenUpdate.html
STOP THE VIOLENCE FOR THE KIDS
thc
drug prohibition must end to save more innocent victims of a failed drug war.Thousands have died,more will unless they are made legal and taken away from children who have been lied to for far to long.I read all the facts,not falsified reports .Drugs are not safe for sure,but keeping all of them illegal will kill more inoccent children via.gang wars,police raids gone wrong,shoot down policys in south america,that killed a missionary and his family by mistake,and so on.A liquor store won't sell booze to kids but Al capone would have when it was under prohibition.Controled substances are being controled by thugs and a corrupted government that stands to lose billions if a non-violent drug like mj were made legal.This year nearly one million arrests will be made due to drugs.Education,is the answer because lies and scare tactics don't work ,never have,never will.legalize ,and the violence will end for our children.
psuedoscience and reefer mad jackasses
here's a post i just put out for you to consider:
In 1998 the state of Iowa, our family's home state for generations on both sides of the family, successfully murdered 11 year old Crystal Leann Manke, my daughter. They did this disgusting act by forcing a drug overdose on her that took about a month and a half to kill her. Just before she died I was tricked into the same overdose and blacked out while driving my diesel truck and killed someone in a traffic accident after I drove around blacked out on the same serotonin syndrome that killed Crystal. The homicide blood test revealed zero nanograms of any dope or alcohol, but the geniuses of the "justice system" fixed crime by imprisoning me for almost 5 years.
These state lawyers are without a real clue and mainly want to continue their lying lives of fake righteousness.
The morons of the state senates who continue to pump out pseudoscience like Sen. Tom Harkin here in Iowa do so by deliberately perverting the legitimate science available to them for the ugly purpose of their monied backers and to hell with the rest of us. Tom quoted an outfit called DAWN and was worried we pot smokers would sell our children when we needed more dope to fix our reefer madness. He makes me sick to my stomach with his sell out filth. By the way, when I contacted DAWN and directly asked them about marijuana deaths they shied away. LIARS!!
There are NO marijuana deaths and we do not need more "research" to piss the money away on. It has been researched to death with no evidence that it hurts anyone.
This is all for the well being of a bunch of blowdried suited up fakes who don't care one bit about us and our not wanting to puke first thing in the morning like I so often do because some asshole was smokeing his legal narcotic cigarette and smashed my neck from the rear end collision he caused putting out his ciggy. Now I am hurt for the rest of my life some more because they just do not know what the hell they are doing in the least. Legalize marijuana and shut up legislative creeps. You are not gods.
end of quote I put up on another post
I find you more respectable than most who oppose legalization of a harmless drug because you seem to be making more of an effort at being intelligent about how you form your decision. I oppose your oppinion and I would like to share some history a bit more with you.
You mention all these terrible losses of motor control and memory that reduce the pot smoker to a useless drone and my life experiences just do not bear these concepts out. In 1978 I worked for Motorola performing complex test and allignment of high freqency FM transmitters. The book of my listed actions was 5 inches thick.
I would get as much pot in me as possible by bong, joint, and pipes of other sorts during breaks, lunch and before work as well. Imagine, if you will, the confusion suffered by my ex millitary policeman of a line supervisor when I utterly reeked of pot and simultaneously took his factory record of quality and productivity away from him while my so called short term memory and motor skills were supposed to be gone like you falsely describe over and over.
YOU ARE A TOOL SIR. YOU HAVE BEEN LIED TO AND NOW ARE PASSING YOUR LIES TO OTHERS.
As you probably are a Christian like myself, a Catholic in my case, I sense some very real caring from you. Thank you. I pray for your family, too.
I am not angry at you for your ernest opinion. I hope you aren't with me for the same.
When I smoke pot and drive it is a very different experience than when I drink alcohol. And to compare pot to cocaine is the most virulent part of your letter, sir. Please do not be so false when you are trying so hard to be an agent of light. I say this in serious respect for you. The two drugs are not comparable very well at all. Coke is real filth, meth, too. Pot is not filth. It just doesn't work the same destructions at all.
Did I just say pot had destructions? Of course it does. If I were concerned about the destructions caused by the carcinogens I would spend the $500 for a Volcano pipe and not smoke the bad parts that cause the carcinogens. THC doesn't have much potential to cause this. And the destructions caused by intoxication? Stay at home and mind my own business seems to cure that rather well. Too bad so sad the police state won't obey this. And when they get done hurting and dominating on us pot smokers don't be fooled, your children will be next. yes, it is coming here in our America.
I regard drug intoxication when I smoke pot as a negative side effect anymore. I am 55 and not looking for a party like when I was a young man. I take Large doses of opioids and the pot just doesn't hit me like it used to. What it Does do is to halt the ugly puking I suffer from first thing in the morning so many times. No, I can not take suppositories. for one large thing, I do not want to and neither would you. for another i can't because i am severely constipated from taking very strong, high doses of anti trigliceride medication
Oh, sure, I have strong anti emetic meds, but they have limets of their own as surely as pot does. Pot isn't god, either.
Stop telling me how to live my own life so you can feel safe. There is No safety except in Christ. The rest of it is incredibly risky and no, pot won't increase your odds of dying when I drive stoned. NO IT WON'T.
There are lots of dummies who never got stoned in their lives like the idiot who nearly killed me. You don't need pot to get hurt on.
Our real dangers are coming as the dollar dies as a form of currency and the police state becomes more dangerous by using lying like pot gets as the springboard for more hellish police powers. We have lost far more than we have gained to this fake drug war garbage. Our constitutional rights are dying over this stuff.
pax vobis
Bob Manke medical pot smoker medical pot grower
ps, tagamet kills people and it is sold every day by SmithKlineBeecham Inc that make one thousand two hundred million dollars a year on it. You are working so earnestly and hard on the wrong cause, by fellow American.
P.S.
75% of AARP came out For the legalization of medical pot. 124,000 Medical Doctors of American College of Physicians just came out for medical pot.
Can you feel it slipping haters?
If I hit a piece of a joint in the bathroom in the morning so I stop puking inside of 5 seconds like has happened so many times, just what kind of monster did your mother raise to send me to jail or get me fired for it two weeks afterwards??? Yeah, that's easily how long my urine will test hot. but it has absolutely nothing to do with you even tho you can and Will hurt someone like me who wants to mind his own life and not mess with you one bit.
Oh, when I drive stoned... I am more cautious than when not stoned and driving. Just don't give me a medical overdose from paxil and tagamet together or I might smash you into kindling and that is something that haunts my sleep even tho I KNOW I was not really at fault because the doctor overdosed me and the other doctor failed to stop it when I went to him and worried if I was hallucinating, which I was but was unable to be sure of it.
Don't you wonder why we have all these mall shootings? they are on serotonin syndrome and it is being covered up by the media and by the pharmaceutical giants who profit on our deaths like my little girl and poor Steve Tomlinson, who I killed. Neither one deserved to die. Legal drugs did that.
Pot can not cause this stuff!
If you have all this energy to go after something as harmless as pot you should check out stopping the pharmacy giants from killing us with their lies.
So you think that cancer
So you think that cancer patients belong in jail for relieving their suffering because some one, some place might drive under the influence of marijuana? If that's your rationale, shouldn't we be locking up everyone who takes a drink?
Oh, by the way, Kaiser Permanente has supported marijuana as a treatment option for AIDS wasting syndrome.
Minnesota mmj
It's evident that MN lawmakers are willing to allow Doctors and Patients to use medicinal marijuana. Governor Pawlenty has said he will veto the bill, now that the 2007 session has adjourned he has a little more time to look at the facts rather than just tow the line with law enforcement. The Governor should take this opportunity to ask the medical community and the people he represents about this issue and he'll find the patients that might use mmj are regular, normal Minnesotans that have an ailment that requires a medicinal herb. To Governor Pawlenty...Look at this for what it is rather than what it isn't.
Uzz Baldrin
Marijuana News Channel
Producer
This is ridiculous
Just so everyone knows, cocaine is also legal for medicinal purposes. The fact that marijuana is not, is just stupid.
From a legal drug dealer
Cancer And, Marijuna
All these Medications; Are becoming Popular for Cancer.....While These "American'" citizens have found a way to prevent and help cure cancer. But, the Government (Tim Pawlently) are Taking advantage of the Sick and Mentally Ill! Wow I don't know if you have thought this over but, I personally believe ; That they should make marijuana legal and get are United State Troops to fight for are right to become narcotic and stop mentally ill siturations, and also rapes the percentage would drop amazingly.
Sincerely,
Sean Wilcox
"CALL IF WANTING TO SOCIALIZE ABOUT TOPIC"
507-278-3153
Medical MARIJUANA while driving.
To be completly honest, as a Medical Marijuana user for over a decade, driving under the influence of marijuana has zero negative effects, and if anything accutally helps and improves my concentration on the road. I cant think of how many times its probally even saved my life.
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