The American Medical Assn. changes its policy to promote clinical research and development of cannabis-based medicines and alternative delivery methods.

The American Medical Assn. on Tuesday urged the federal government to reconsider its classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use, a significant shift that puts the prestigious group behind calls for more research.

The nation’s largest physicians organization, with about 250,000 member doctors, the AMA has maintained since 1997 that marijuana should remain a Schedule I controlled substance, the most restrictive category, which also includes heroin and LSD.

( These bastards have been huge in keeping the propaganda strong )

In changing its policy, the group said its goal was to clear the way to conduct clinical research, develop cannabis-based medicines and devise alternative ways to deliver the drug.

( Like Vaporizers? How about the Volcano Vaporizer like at www.vaporizervolcano.com )

“Despite more than 30 years of clinical research, only a small number of randomized, controlled trials have been conducted on smoked cannabis,” said Dr. Edward Langston, an AMA board member, noting that the limited number of studies was “insufficient to satisfy the current standards for a prescription drug product.”

The decision by the organization’s delegates at a meeting in Houston marks another step in the evolving view of marijuana, which an AMA report notes was once linked by the federal government to homicidal mania. Since California voters approved the use of medical marijuana in 1996, marijuana has moved steadily into the cultural mainstream spurred by the growing awareness that it can have beneficial effects for some chronically ill people.

( Years of propaganda will have people believing that if you toke, you may be subject to Homicidal Mania )

This year, the Obama administration sped up that drift when it ordered federal narcotics agents not to arrest medical marijuana users and providers who follow state laws. Polls show broadening support for marijuana legalization.

Thirteen states allow the use of medical marijuana, and about a dozen more have considered it this year.

The AMA, however, also adopted as part of its new policy a sentence that admonishes: “This should not be viewed as an endorsement of state-based medical cannabis programs, the legalization of marijuana, or that scientific evidence on the therapeutic use of cannabis meets the current standards for a prescription drug product.”

The association also rejected a proposal to issue a more forceful call for marijuana to be rescheduled.

Nevertheless, marijuana advocates welcomed the development. “They’re clearly taking an open-minded stance and acknowledging that the evidence warrants a review. That is very big,” said Bruce Mirken, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project. “It’s not surprising that they are moving cautiously and one step at a time, but this is still a very significant change.”

Advocates also noted that the AMA rejected an amendment that they said would have undercut the medical marijuana movement. The measure would have made it AMA’s policy that “smoking is an inherently unsafe delivery method for any therapeutic agent, and therefore smoked marijuana should not be recommended for medical use.”

Dr. Michael M. Miller, a psychiatrist who practices addiction medicine, proposed the amendment. “Smoking is a bad delivery system because you’re combusting something and inhaling it,” he said.

Reaction from the federal government was muted.

Dawn Dearden with the Drug Enforcement Administration said: “At this point, it’s still a Schedule I drug, and we’re going to treat it as such.” The Food and Drug Administration declined to comment.

In a statement, the office of the White House drug czar reiterated the administration’s opposition to legalization and said that it would defer to “the FDA’s judgment that the raw marijuana plant cannot meet the standards for identity, strength, quality, purity, packaging and labeling required of medicine.”

The DEA classifies drugs into five schedules, with the fifth being the least-restrictive. Schedule II drugs, such as cocaine and morphine, are considered to have a high potential for abuse, but also to have accepted medical uses.

Several petitions have been filed to reschedule marijuana. The first, filed in 1972, bounced back and forth between the DEA and the courts until it died in 1994. A petition filed in 2002 is under consideration.

Kris Hermes, a spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, said that advocates hoped the petition would receive more attention. “Given the change of heart by the AMA, there is every opportunity for the Obama administration to do just that,” he said.

In a report released with its new policy, the AMA notes that the organization was “virtually alone” in opposing the first federal restrictions on marijuana, which were adopted in 1937. Cannabis had been used in various medicinal products for years, but fell into disuse in the early 20th century.

Sunil Aggarwal, a medical student at the University of Washington, helped spark the AMA’s reconsideration after he researched marijuana’s effect on 186 chronically ill patients. “I had reason to believe that there was medical good that could come from these products, and I wanted to see AMA policy reflect that,” he said.

The AMA is not the only major doctors organization to rethink marijuana. Last year, the American College of Physicians, the second-largest physician group, called for “rigorous scientific evaluation of the potential therapeutic benefits of medical marijuana” and an “evidence-based review of marijuana’s status as a Schedule I controlled substance.”

Last month, the California Medical Assn. passed resolutions that declared the criminalization of marijuana “a failed public health policy” and called on the organization to take part in the debate on changing current policy.

Federal drug enforcement authorities in Cali have arrested 18 people, including at least one real estate realtor. It is said that they operated high-tech marijuana growing nurseries located  in houses all over the Central Valley near Sacramento.

Side Note: Looking for an Honest Realtor that actually cares about his clients in Arizona? My friend Angel K. is a superb upstanding gent that is a savvy investor that has the best Phoenix real estate .

Drug Enforcement Agency – DEA – authorities say the accused bought homes for between $400,000 and $600,000. They removed the walls and hooked up and installed  ventilation and hydration equipment that allowed them to grow an estimated 11 tons of marijuana with a street value of $96 million. Now that’s a lot of Ganja or Medicinal Cannabis : ]

Practitioners who are accused of buying the properties to be converted include Dickson Hung, a former associate with Exit Realty in San Mateo, Calif. Scott O’Briant, the agent in charge of Internal Revenue Service criminal investigations in Northern California, said Hung used straw buyers to purchase the properties.

Whats a straw buyer you ask?

Well the definition of a Straw Buyer is:

People who consent that their names and personal details are used by certain people with the purpose of obtaining mortgage loans with no purpose of ever inhabiting these homes. Sometimes a straw buyer will be offered several thousands for the favor, or they may never know that their name and information will be used on the loan application. Straw buyers are also asked to sign forged documents.

* Important Piece of Info *

Even if straw buyers claim to have participated in the mortgage fraud uninformed of the fraudulent activities of the perpetrator, they are responsible for participating in criminal offense.

So don’t act like ya don’t know growers are gonna be growing in your huge isolated mansion.  Actually in California ….400,000 to 600,000 gets you a sweet inland shack in the ghetto, doesn’t it?

Ed Rosenthal, “The Guru of Ganja,” was honored last Friday with a Lifetime Achievement Award at AMMA’s 10th Anniversary Celebration in San Francisco.

Over 100 people attending the event, which marked the first decade of the American Medical Marijuana Association, an organization founded by Ed, Dr.Tod Mikuriya and Steve Kubby.

The AMMA Benefit also included competition for the “People’s Choice Award”. Outdoor organic MENDO PINEAPPLE, (marked with a diamond symbol on each judge’s pack) defeated some truly outstanding competitors including:
–PURPLE ROMULAN (marked as #1) very heady and tasty
–SUPER SILVER HAZE (#2) very smooth and potent
–WHITE TRAIN (#3) a fantastic soaring sativa
–J-27 (marked as ww) remarkably potent and tasty (available at Organicann in Santa Rosa, Ca)

Finally, the Feds have stated that pot smoking patients and their sanctioned suppliers should not be targeted for Federal prosecution in states that allow the use of medical marijuana. Prosecutors were notified Monday in a new policy memo issued by the Justice Department.

Wow say it ain’t so.

As part of the 3 page legal memo, it states, that it is not a good use of federal prosecutors time to arrest those that use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with State law.

You Don’t Say?

It also makes clear that federal agents WILL go after people whose ganja distribution goes beyond what is permitted under the state law, or use cannabis as a way to cover for other crimes.

The memo advises prosecutors they ” should not focus fed resources on individuals in any state, whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.”

This is a fresh change from the Bush administration that insisted that it would enforce Federal Laws regardless of the individual state laws.

“It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana, but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

By the government’s count, 14 states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Some medical marijuana advocates say Maryland shouldn’t be included in that group, because the law there only allows for reduced penalties for medical marijuana usage.

California stands out among those for the widespread presence of dispensaries — businesses that sell marijuana and even advertise their services. Colorado also has several dispensaries, and Rhode Island and New Mexico are in the process of licensing providers, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, a group that promotes the decriminalization of marijuana use.

Advocates say marijuana is effective in treating chronic pain and nausea, among other ailments like ADHD, Premenstrual Syndrome.

Holder said in March that he wanted federal law enforcement officials to pursue those who violate both federal and state law, but it has not been clear how that goal would be put into practice.

The memo spelling out the policy was sent Monday to federal prosecutors in the 14 states, and also to top officials at the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration.

The memo written by Deputy Attorney General David Ogden emphasizes that prosecutors have wide discretion in choosing which cases to pursue, and says it is not a good use of federal manpower to prosecute those who are without a doubt in compliance with state law.

“This is a major step forward,” said Bruce Mirken, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project. “This change in policy moves the federal government dramatically toward respecting scientific and practical reality.”

I hope your right Bruce : ]

The change has critics, including lawmakers who see it as a tactical retreat in the fight against Mexican drug cartels.

“We cannot hope to eradicate the drug trade if we do not first address the cash cow for most drug trafficking organizations — marijuana,” said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.

Yea….because decriminalizing and setting up sanctioned dispensaries, where patients could go, rather then getting the Cartels goods from the Black Market, won’t help at all. It surely won’t put a dent in the pocket books of the Cartel.

Administration officials said the government will still prosecute those who use medical marijuana as a cover for other illegal activity.

In particular, the memo urges prosecutors to pursue marijuana cases which involve violence, the illegal use of firearms, selling pot to minors, money laundering or involvement in other crimes.

And while the policy memo describes a change in priorities away from prosecuting medical marijuana cases, it does not rule out the possibility that the federal government could still prosecute someone whose activities are allowed under state law.

The memo, officials said, is designed to give a sense of prosecutorial priorities to U.S. attorneys in the states that allow medical marijuana. It notes that pot sales in the United States are the largest source of money for violent Mexican drug cartels, but adds that federal law enforcement agencies have limited resources.

Lemme know when we wake up and legalize it….or better yet…..lemme know when we wake up from the pharmalogical haze that the drug companies aka “Legal US Cartels” have the world in.

I mean what drug company would want to legalize an herb that cures so many things that currently you take pills for? A natural herb you can grow yourself for free…what corporation would want that. And why is hemp still lumped in?

Damn those guys…..

Ed Rosenthal is an accomplished grower and connoisseur, and as such, has written around 10 or so…  marijuana and cannabis books. Here you will find all the information you will need on Ed Rosenthals Books Including:

Books on Growing Marijuana

This section is dedicated to all  Ed Rosenthal books that have to do with Growing Cannabis or General Guides in the field.

• Marijuana Grower’s Handbook: The Indoor High Yield Guide

• Best of Ask Ed: Your Marijuana Questions Answered

to Books on

Medical Marijuana

• Medical Marijuana Handbook

to

Books on Marijuana Strains

• The Big Book of Buds Series

One of the finest books on marijuana with beautiful pictures, and well thought out descriptions

Big Book Of Buds Volume 1

Big Book of Bud Vol 2 and   Big Book of Buds Vol 3

Visit our pages to view and purchase all of Ed Rosenthals Books,

and have a Great Day!

Green AID is a non-profit organization that was born in 2002 out of the commitment and passion of it’s founding Board of Directors and other key leadership from inside the medical marijuana community.

Their Mission Statement is:

“TO LEGISLATE THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE WHERE IT MATTERS MOST — IN THE COURTS.”

• To set new precedents in marijuana freedom for all Americans by moving the fight for medical marijuana rights into the legal and judicial realm exclusively.
• To provide necessary public relations and related services that will brand the media as a viable partner and friend of the medical marijuana movement.
• To place much needed emphasis on the strategic enforcement of existing state laws that command safe access to medical marijuana for the sick and infirm.

They are a great cause and foundation and if you can you should help and support the cause any way you can whether

Donating at Green-Aid.com

or at least help by Spreading the Word about the cause.

Thank You for your Support

Support Ed’s Fight

President of Green Aid