By Suzelle

The National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws held this year's meeting in San Francisco. The theme was "Get Up, Stand Up! Stand Up For Your Rights!" Three days were filled with forums of expert speakers on many pertinent subjects: initiatives, policy reforms, youth, reports from the field, victims, cultivation, police tactics, FDA research on vaporizers, doctors, student activism (51 students from a chapter in Florida attended), state of the laws, lessons learned, Canada, and growing grassroots.

On day two, five doctors who have become experts on the use of marijuana as medicine spoke. There are ten California doctors who have been most proactive in implementing and complying with The California Health & Safety Code. While no patients have complained, all ten doctors have faced challenges from law enforcement through the California Medical Board, despite the fact that Proposition 215 protects doctors who recommend medical marijuana from harrassment.

Dr. Mikuriya reported that he will be on probation with the Medical Board for four more years. He is monitored by another physician, Dr. Lucido. He must take blood pressure and weight measurements of his patients, and he must pay $75,000 for the Medical Board's investigation. His case is on appeal. He has expended $135,000 on his first appeals attorney, and $20,000 has gone to his new lawyer so far. The youthful senior, at over 70 years (and who, just two years ago, quickly recovered after heart surgery with the help of his vaporizer), requested acknowledgement and support from medical marijuana advocates: "I had hoped to be retiring but have to keep up with legal expenses and the annoyance of probationary status, as I hope to have something to leave to my children besides good karma."

After lunch I listened as four scientists presented some of their recent findings. During our present lifetimes, independent studies of the effects of marijuana have been thwarted in the U.S., and the Federal government has also refused to accept positive findings from their own studies. Testimonies of the efficacy of marijuana as medicine have even been denied in court. Now that scientific studies are legal in some states results are confirming what we had begun to understand.

At the "Marijuana and Good Health: Who Knew?" forum of scientists, Robert Melamede, Ph.D., a Professor of Biochemistry at the U. of Colorado, gave a quick overview of a course of study at the university. He explained that endocannabinoids are a vital component of the human body's natural regulatory systems. Imbalances in the following systems are regulated by endocannabinoids: cardiovascular, digestive, endocrine, excretory, immunological, nervous, musculoskeletal, and reproductive. Melamede told us that research has shown that introducing additional cannabinoids (derived from the cannabis plant) enhances our bodies' immune systems and healing mechanisms.

He revealed further that cannabinoids can kill cancer cells of the following varieties: breast, colorectal, glioma, leukemia, lymphoma, pheochromocytoma, prostate, and skin. He presented an illustration which showed a brain scan of two mice each with an introduced brain tumor. A follow-up scan showed that the tumor which had been injected with cannabinoid had dissolved where the other remained the same.

The following symptoms accompany degenerative illnesses: pain, nausea, anxiety, neuropathy, sleeplessness and lack of appetite. These same symptoms are those which are relieved by endocannabinoids. Our bodies produce endocannabinoids, and more cannabinoids are easily introduced by ingesting and/or inhaling the volatile oils of the cannabis flower. We have special receptors for cannabinoids in our brains.

Another expert, Dr. Greg Carter, a University of Washington neurologist, said that everyone of us is suffering from the same debilitating and terminal disease, the disease of aging. Similar to the flavinoids of chocolate, cannabinoids are anti-oxidant, anti-aging, so that even those who use the cannabis plant recreationally are being affected medicinally in a positive way. He reported that the biology of cannabis is very complex with over 70 different cannabinoids, that they are lipid soluable and thus ideal for neural tissue and are proving effective in dealing with neurodegenerative pains. [Also see: http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/19476/ ]

A hemp industries forum followed. We applauded the winning of the Hemp Industries Association's case against the D.E.A. who had mistakenly banned the import of hemp seeds. [The Drug Enforcement Administration announced a nationwide ban in October 2001 on hemp foods and oils, which may contain trace amounts of THC, the active substance in marijuana. But the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco allowed sales to resume in March 2002 and ruled the ban illegal in February 2004. In its ruling, the court said the DEA had no authority to reclassify hemp as a dangerous drug. In September 2004, the Bush administration announced it would not appeal that decision to the Supreme Court, and allowed its deadline to do so to elapse. Hempseed is rich in healthy omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and the FDA ruled last September that food manufacturers can now say on their labels, "Supportive but not conclusive research shows that consumption of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease." Typically, omega-3 fatty acids are contained in oily fish, such as salmon, lake trout, tuna and herring. According to Alexis Baden-Mayer, Director of Government Affairs for VoteHemp.com, "Americans are looking for healthy alternative sources of omega-3 oils to supplement their diets due to concerns regarding trace mercury in fish and fish oil supplements. Right now the U.S. marketplace is supplied by hemp seed grown and processed in Canada and Europe. We will now work to convince Congress it is time for the U.S. to again allow American farmers to grow industrial hemp and participate in this lucrative growth market." -EK]