Irvin Rosenfeld Nears Pot Smoking Record

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Irv Rosenfeld’s Story &

How Marijuana Became Legal for more on Irvin Rosenfeld

(Source) Nov 20, 2009 – Irvin Rosenfeld, a 56-year-old stockbroker from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. will smoke his 115,000th marijuana cigarette Friday, a possible world record, and he can thank the U.S. government for his supply.

“Yep, provided by Uncle Sam,” Rosenfeld told NBC “They grow it for me, I find that quite ironic.”

Since 1982, Rosenfeld has been a patient in the Federal Drug Administration’s Investigational New Drug Program.

He suffers from a rare bone disorder called multiple congenital cartilaginous exostoses. To alleviate the pain associated with the disorder he was prescribed marijuana.

The marijuana is grown on a farm on the campus of the University of Mississippi and is delivered to a pharmacy where Rosenfeld picks up a tin of 300 federally grown and rolled cigarettes that have been sent for him. He said he smokes between 10 and 12 marijuana joints per day.

“The first thing I do every morning is smoke two joints as I watch my business shows,” Rosenfeld said. “Then another on my drive to work.”

According to Fortune magazine Rosenfeld is one of four people in the United States whom the federal government supplies with medical marijuana.

His marijuana use has led to comical moments at his office. Marijuana “has a distinct smell,” said an executive that works with Rosenfeld to USA Today . “The mailman or someone coming into the building will stop and notice.”

NBCMiami.com. reported that Rosenfeld is writing a book on his experiences as the nation’s longest-running legal pot-smoker, tentatively called “Potluck.” He hopes to have it published in the spring. But he expects Friday, Nov. 20, he will set a world record for marijuana consumption when when he lights up No. 115,000.

Earlier this month, the American Medical Association moved closer to supporting medical marijuana, adopting a measure urging a federal review of marijuana’s status as a controlled substance, reported The Associated Press. The group said its position doesn’t mean it supports legalizing marijuana.

Filed under: Irvin Rosenfeld, videos

Growing Medical Marijuana Industry Sparks Debate in California

Mike O’Sullivan reports on the changing attitudes, the ongoing debate, and the thriving industry in medical marijuana in California.

Tuesday, the American Medical Association, the nation’s largest organization of physicians, called for a review of the U.S. government’s classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no medical uses. Without endorsing clinical use of the drug, the group called for more research into its possible benefits. Fourteen U.S. states allow the use of marijuana for medical reasons. It remains illegal under federal law, but the Obama administration recently said it will not prosecute marijuana dispensaries that follow state laws.

 

Filed under: California, Dr. David Bearman, Medical Cannabis, Medical Marijuana, dispensaries

New futures for cannabis-based medicines

By Gregory L. Gerdeman and Juan Sanchez-Ramos for St. Petersburg Times

Samuel Bagdorf of San Francisco, who suffers from anxiety disorders, exhales after smoking his marijuana pipe last month at the San Francisco Medical Cannabis Clinic.
	[Associated Press]

Medicinal use of cannabis is being discussed more actively than ever. Although prior to its prohibition in 1937 cannabis was used widely in pharmacies, there was little debate about its usefulness to treat various symptoms such as inflammatory pain. Cannabis remedies were well known, publicly advertised and widely prescribed.

“Marijuana,” on the other hand, was virtually unknown Mexican jargon before becoming the “assassin of youth” in propaganda films. Such depictions led to an unceremonious vote by Congress to effectively criminalize Cannabis sativa in all of its forms. The strongest opposition came not from the public (which did not equate the new “scourge” with cannabis remedies) but from the American Medical Association, whose congressional liaison decried the legislation as speciously motivated by “indirect hearsay evidence.”

Over the next 72 years, the image of the American cannabis user morphed from the immigrant madman and criminal deviant of the ’40s, to the counter-culture crowd of the ’60s to the unmotivated slacker of the ’80s. In the ’90s, a “new” image arose: the medical marijuana patient, who is driven not to get high but to get well. It is linguistically ironic that “medical marijuana” may usher in a new chapter in the ancient relationship between human society and the cannabis plant.

Now the American Medical Association has turned heads by again weighing in on cannabis policy. After extensive review of scientific and clinical evidence regarding the harms and benefits of cannabinoids (molecules found in cannabis) as well as recent legal precedence regarding medical marijuana, the AMA announced that the federal Schedule I status of marijuana (most prohibited) should be reconsidered in order to advance clinical research with botanical cannabinoid medicines. The AMA report furthermore expresses that “physicians who comply with their ethical obligations to ‘first do no harm’ and to ‘relieve pain and suffering’ should be protected in their endeavors, including advising and counseling their patients on the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes.”

The emphasis on research is important. There is a future for botanical cannabis-based medicines, but patients and physicians should be empowered to base health care decisions on real evidence rather than hyperbolic claims of marijuana’s dangers or virtues. Not surprisingly, the AMA does not support legalizing medical marijuana through state ballot initiatives, such as the one Floridians could vote on next year if a petition by the group People United for Medical Marijuana gains traction. Cannabis is a plant and modern standards for purity, packaging and delivery of drugs play an important part in assuring reliable predictability. Also at play is the arena of pharmaceutical development — new drugs are being pioneered to enhance the body’s THC-like “endocannabinoid system,” intended to achieve therapeutic effect with improved specificity and minimal psychoactivity. Research is clearly needed to ensure efficacy and safety of these new drugs.

Nonetheless, the perceived promise of such drugs highlights a need for greater maturity in social discussion of medical use for cannabis and/or its constituent molecules. Whatever else might be said about the apparent sea change of public opinion about cannabis, the oft-repeated claims by federal drug czars that medical marijuana is a “smoke screen” or lacks even a “shred of evidence” must be laid to rest as a relic of socially juvenile, 20th century reefer madness. Public policy should be based on sound scientific evidence — not a roadblock to it. Cannabis has been used safely as a folkloric remedy for thousands of years, but in modern America inappropriate Schedule I listing of marijuana has obstructed research to find promising therapies for debilitating human conditions. This is a paramount reason why the scheduling should be changed.

Gregory L. Gerdeman, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of biology at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. Juan Sanchez-Ramos, Ph.D./M.D., is the Helen Ellis Professor of Neurology and chair for Parkinson’s Disease Research at the University of South Florida College of Medicine in Tampa.

Sanchez-Ramos was a physician involved in the “Compassionate Use Protocol for Marijuana” sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration. In this study, marijuana was prepared and shipped by NIDA to patients with various medical conditions. His patient suffered from muscle spasms and pain caused by a rare disease, successfully treated with cannabis.

Filed under: Medical Cannabis, Medical Marijuana

MPP’s Aaron Houston – Marijuana Policy discussed on Fox News

MPP Director of Government Relations Aaron Houston appears on Fox Freedom Watch to talk about the advances in marijuana policy and the failure of the drug war with Judge Andrew Napolitano. 11/09/2009

 

Filed under: Cannabis, Marijuana, decriminalization

Cannabis Cures Cancer – “Run From The Cure” The Rick Simpson Story

See Also “How to make a Cancer Cure“

The following comes from Rick Simpson’s website, Pheonix Tears.  He tells exactly how to produce Hemp Oil.  Please note we are referring to Marijuana here, not Industrial Hemp.

“Properly made hemp medicine is the greatest healer on this planet bar none. Once you experience what this medication can do you will understand why history and I call hemp medicine a cure all.”

For those of you who have watched the documentary “Run from the Cure”, this should answer any questions about producing your own oil. I recommend that people grow their own hemp either in a small indoor grow system or outdoors. Growing it yourself will eliminate the high cost associated with buying hemp from drug dealers. The cost of hemp can vary greatly from dealer to dealer and so can the quality of the hemp. For anyone new to growing hemp a good book or video on the subject is a necessity. If you go to Cannabis Culture, the good people there should be able to point you in the right direction.

Caution:
Oils that drug dealers sell can have many contaminants and often little or no THC. From my experience, most hemp oil available on the street should be avoided for medicinal use. Make your own oil or have someone you trust produce the oil to assure a very pure, high quality oil is produced.

How much to make and take?
One pound (500g) of bone-dry hemp buds will usually produce about 2 ounces (55 – 60 mL) of high-grade oil. This amount of oil will cure most serious cancers; the average person can ingest this amount in about three months. This oil is very potent so one must begin treatment with small doses. A drop of oil about half the size of a grain of rice, two to four times a day is a good beginning. After four or five days, start increasing your daily dosage very gradually. As time goes on the body builds a tolerance to the oil and more and more can be taken. In cases where people are in a great deal of pain, I recommend that their dosage be quickly increased until it kills the pain. High quality hemp oil will stop pain even when morphine is not effective. The oil can be applied to external injuries for pain relief in minutes.

Will I get high?
Following the dosage previously described, many people can take the full treatment and never get high. In regards to hemp, getting “high” is a joke, even if a person does take too much oil the effect wears off quickly and no harm is done. No one has ever died from the use of hemp medicine.

Will I become addicted?
Hemp oil does not cause your body to crave more. It is non-addictive, harmless and effective for practically any medical condition.

Is this the same as hemp seed oil?
No! This is hemp oil, made from the bud and small leaves of the hemp plant. It is the essential oil of the hemp plant. Health food store sells oil made from hemp seed that is often mislabeled as hemp oil. Although seed oil is very beneficial, it does not contain enough THC to have any effect on cancer and other serious illnesses.

Are hemp and marijuana the same?
The word marijuana is one of over four hundred slang terms used worldwide to describe the cannabis and/or hemp plant.

Are all hemp plants the same?
When buying or growing hemp, procure a strain that has the highest possible THC content. To energize someone suffering from depression, I recommend a good Sativa strain. For most other medical conditions, I strongly suggest that Indica strains be used. Indicas relax a person and provide them with more rest and sleep.

How do I use it?
High quality hemp oil can be vapourized, ingested or used topically. Add the oil to creams and salves for external use.

Where can I get information about making the oil?
For someone new to making the oil I suggest that you go to “Run From The Cure”. There you can watch our documentary in seven segments. Segment #4 shows how the oil can be produced at home or one can go to Phoenix Tears Movie and download the full documentary. You will need a high-speed internet connection and there is no charge. The process in the video could only be described as crude at best, but the oil that is produced will cure cancer. In reality, this medicine should be produced in a controlled environment, using distilling equipment, etc. to reclaim the solvent and to purify the oil. Most people do not understand distilling and do not have access to the required equipment. This is the reason such a simple method is descried in the documentary, so if need be just about anyone can produce the oil. As in the video, again we stress that this process, if not done properly can be dangerous and we bear no responsibility if this educational information is misused.

My process:

Starting material:
I generally work with a pound or more of good grade hemp starting material. You can use just one ounce. An ounce will usually produce 3 or 4 grams of oil. The amount of oil produced per ounce of hemp will vary from strain to strain, but it all has that wonderful healing power.

1 – Place the completely dry starting material in a plastic bucket.
2 – Dampen the material with the solvent you are using. Many solvents can be used. I like to use pure naphtha but it costs $500 for a 45-gallon drum. You can use 99% isopropyl alcohol, which you can find in your local drug stores. Alcohol absorbs more chlorophyll from the plant material than naphtha does. This gives oils made with alcohol a darker colour but does not diminish the potency of the oil to any noticeable degree. Ether, naphtha or butane and many other solvents can produce oils that are amber and transparent. Granted these clear oils do look better but dark oil can be just as potent. If the process is done properly, little or no solvent residue is left in the oil. I have been consuming oils produced using different solvents for eight years with no harmful effects. You will require about two gallons of solvent to strip the THC off one pound of dry starting material. 500 milliliters of solvent should be more than enough to strip the THC from one ounce of hemp starting material.
3 – Crush the plant material using a stick of clean untreated (chemical free) wood or some such device. Even though the starting material has been dampened with the solvent, you will find that the material can be readily crushed.
4 – Add solvent until the starting material is completely covered.
Use the stick to work the plant material. As you are doing this, the THC dissolves off the plant material into the solvent.
5 – Continue this process for about 3 minutes.
6 – Pour the solvent-oil mix off the plant material into another bucket. You have just stripped the plant material of about 80% of its THC.
7 – Second wash – again add solvent to the plant material and work it for another 3 minutes to get the other 20%.
8 – Pour this solvent-oil mix into the bucket containing the first mix that was poured off previously.
9 – Discard the twice-washed plant material.
10- Pour the solvent-oil mix through a coffee filter into a clean container.
11- Boil the solvent off. I have found that a rice cooker will do this boil off very nicely. The one I have has two heat settings – high and low – and will hold over a half gallon (2.5 liters) of solvent-oil mix.
12- Add solvent-oil mix to the rice cooker until it is about ¾ full.

Make sure you are in a very well ventilated area and set up a fan to carry the solvent fumes away. The fumes are very flammable. Be sure to stay away from red-hot elements, sparks, cigarettes etc. that could ignite the fumes.

13- Plug the rice cooker in and set it on high heat.
14- Continue adding solvent-oil mix as the level in the rice cooker decreases until it is all in the cooker.
15- Add a few drops of water to the solvent-oil mix as the level comes down for the last time. The amount of water added depends on how much starting material you had in the beginning. If I am producing oil from a pound of good bud, I usually add about ten drops of water.
16- When there is about one inch of solvent-oil-water mix left in the cooker, put on your oven mitts, pick the unit up and gently swirl the contents
17- Continue swirling until the solvent has been evaporated off. The few drops of water help release the solvent residue and protect the oil somewhat from too much heat. When the solvent has been boiled off, the cooker that I use automatically goes to low heat. This avoids any danger of overheating the oil. At no time should the temperature of the oil go over 290F degrees (140 C).
18- Put on your oven mitts and remove the pot containing the oil from the rice cooker.
19- Gently pour the oil into a small stainless steel container.
20- Place this container in a dehydrator or put in on a gentle heating device such as a coffee warmer. It may take a few hours but the water and volatile turpines will be evaporated from the oil. When there is no longer any activity on the surface of the oil the medicine is ready for use.
21- Pour the hot oil into a bottle; or as in the video suck it up into a plastic syringe. Putting the oil in a plastic syringe makes it very easy to dispense the medicine.

When the oil cools off it has the consistency of thick grease. Some strains will produce very thick oil and you may have trouble squeezing it out of the syringe. If this happens, place the syringe in warm water a few minutes prior to use.

To anyone starting to use hemp oil as a medication, here are some simple facts.
Hemp oil will lower blood pressure and if you are on blood pressure medication, you may find that this medication is no longer needed. The same is true for diabetics. I have seen hemp oil control blood sugar to the extent that insulin was no longer needed.

I am not a doctor and I do not have the right to tell people what they should do. Personally, I would not consider taking any cancer treatments currently in use by our medical system, I do not recommend that hemp oil be taken along with chemotherapy. What would be the sense of making your own cure and then allowing the medical system to give you massive doses of poison?

From my experience with hemp medicine, I have found that most pharmaceutical medications are no longer needed once a person starts using hemp oil. Hemp oil seems to mix well with most natural medications but I have had a few reports from people trying to take hemp oil and pharmaceuticals who experienced stomach pain etc. All problems ceased when they stopped taking the prescription drugs.

To anyone who is going to act on this information to help a loved one, I welcome you to the world of real medicine. Again, I caution you to be very careful when boiling the solvent off. The fumes are very flammable. Be sure to stay away from red-hot elements, sparks, cigarettes etc. that could ignite the fumes.

Hemp Oil Dosage Information

It takes the average person about 90 days to ingest the full 60 gram treatment. I suggest that people start with 3 doses per day about half the size of a grain of dry rice. A dose such as this would equal about ¼ of a drop. After four days at this dosage, increase your doses every four days until you are at the point where you are ingesting about 1 gram in 24 hours, so each dose should equal 1/3 of a gram.

It takes the average person about 5 weeks to get to the point where they can ingest a gram per day. Once they reach this dosage they can continue at this rate until the cancer disappears. A gram is just slightly less than 1ml.

By using this method it allows the body to build up its tolerance slowly, in fact, I have many reports from people who took the oil treatment and never got ‘high’. We all have different tolerances for any medication. Your size and body weight have little to do with your tolerance for hemp oil.

Be aware when commencing treatment with hemp oil that it will lower your blood pressure, so if you are currently taking blood pressure medication, it is very likely that you will no longer need it.

When people are taking the oil, I like to see them stay within their comfort zone, but the truth is, the faster you take the oil the better the chance of surviving. At the end of their treatment most people continue taking the oil but at a much reduced rate. 6 to 12 grams a year would be a good maintenance dose. I do not like to see people overdosing on the oil, but an overdose does no harm. The main side effect of this medication is sleep and rest which plays an important role in the healing process. Usually, within an hour or so of taking a dose, the oil is telling you to lay down and relax. Don’t fight the sleepy feeling, just lay down and go with it. Usually within a month, the daytime tiredness associated with this treatment fades away but the patient continues to sleep very well at night. The only time I would recommend that people start out with larger doses would be to get off addictive and dangerous pain medications. When people who are using such medications begin the oil treatment, they usually cut their pain medications in half. The object is to take enough oil to take care of the pain and to help the patient get off these dangerous pharmaceutical drugs. Taking the oil makes it much easier for the patient to get off these addictive chemicals.

I simply tell people the oil will do one of two things; it will either cure your cancer or in cases where it is too late to affect a cure, the oil will ease their way out and they can at least die with dignity. Hemp oil has a very high success rate in the treatment of cancer, unfortunately many people who come to me have been badly damaged by the medical system with their chemo and radiation etc. The damage such treatments cause have a lasting effect and people who have suffered the effects of such treatments are the hardest to cure. It should also be mentioned that the oil rejuvenates vital organs like the pancreas. Many diabetics who have taken the oil find that after about six weeks on the oil that they no longer require insulin since their pancreas is again doing its job.

Properly made hemp medicine is the greatest healer on this planet bar none. Once you experience what this medication can do you will understand why history and I call hemp medicine a cure all.

Filed under: Hemp Oil, Rick Simpson, Run From the Cure, videos

Federal Drug Reform Legislation in the Congress – Medical Marijuana, Marijuana Decriminalization & Industrial Hemp

Here’s an update on some of the more significant legislation moving (or not) on the Hill.  From the Drug War Chronicle 11.13.09

 

Medical Marijuana

Late last month, Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) reintroduced H.R. 3939, the Truth in Trials Act, which would allow defendants in federal medical marijuana prosecutions to use medical evidence in their defense — a right they do not have under current federal law. The bill currently has 28 cosponsors and has been endorsed by more than three dozen advocacy, health, and civil liberties organizations. It is before the House Judiciary Committee.

That isn’t the only medical marijuana bill pending. In June, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced the Medical Marijuana Protection Act, which would reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug and eliminate federal authority to prosecute medical marijuana patients and providers in states where it is legal. The measure has 29 cosponsors and has been sitting in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce ever since. Frank introduced similar legislation in the last two Congresses, but the bills never got a committee vote or even a hearing. Advocates hoped that with a Democratically-controlled Congress and a president who has at least given lip service to medical marijuana, Congress this year would prove to be friendlier ground, but that hasn’t proven to be the case so far.

In July, the House passed the District of Columbia appropriations bill and in so doing removed an 11-year-old amendment barring the District from implementing the medical marijuana law approved by voters in 1998. Known as the Barr amendment after then Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), the amendment has been attacked by both medical marijuana and DC home rule advocates for years as an unconscionable intrusion into District affairs. The Senate has yet to act. Among the proponents for removing the Barr amendment: Bob Barr.

Marijuana Decriminalization

In June, Reps. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced the Personal Use of Marijuana By Responsible Adults Act, which would remove federal criminal penalties for the possession of less than 100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) and for the not-for-profit transfer of up to one ounce. The bill would not change marijuana’s status as a Schedule I controlled substance, would not change federal laws banning the growing, sale, and import and export of marijuana, and would not undo state laws prohibiting marijuana. It currently has nine cosponsors and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

And just so you don’t get the mistaken idea that the era of drug war zealotry on the Hill is completely in the past, there is Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL). In June, Kirk introduced the High Potency Marijuana Sentencing Enhancement Act, which would increase penalties for marijuana offenses if the THC level is above 15%. Taking a page from the British tabloids, Kirk complained that high-potency “Kush” was turning his suburban Chicago constituents into “zombies.” Nearly six months later, Kirk’s bill has exactly zero cosponsors and has been sent to die in the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

Industrial Hemp

Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX) again introduced an industrial hemp bill this year. HR 1866, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2009would remove restrictions on the cultivation of non-psychoactive industrial hemp. They were joined by a bipartisan group of nine cosponsors, a number which has since grown to 18. The bill was referred to the House Energy and Commerce and House Judiciary committees upon introduction. Six weeks later, Judiciary referred it to its Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, where it has languished ever since.

Filed under: Cannabis, Marijuana, Medical Cannabis, Medical Marijuana

How to make a Cancer Cure – Hemp Oil

See also Cannabis Cures Cancer – “Run From The Cure” (The Rick Simpson Story), which includes detailed instructions for making Hemp Oil.

Happy Healing!

Filed under: Medical Cannabis, Medical Marijuana, Rick Simpson, Run From the Cure, cancer, videos