Streyeder 0 Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 http://www.bhamweekly.com/article.php?article_id=001173 Interesting, I figured it'd be much longer before this was introduced in Alabama. Sadly, I doubt it will pass as we can't even seem to free the hops or the vines. This also always reminds me of a story from Professor Emeritus of the Harvard School of Medicine Lester Grinspoon: When I learned that Danny had leukemia, in 1967, the very year I began that study of marijuana, I asked my professor at Harvard when I was a student, my professor oncology was Sidney Farber to take care of Danny and of course he agreed to. A couple of years later, Dr. Farber retired and his successor was chosen, a man from Texas, Dr. Frei. When Frei came to Boston, I was invited to a dinner party to meet him. At the dinner table, he asked me, “You wrote a lot about the way 19 th century doctors used marijuana for medicine, but not much about nausea or vomiting, but he said, let me tell you a story, to hear your response,In Houston he had recently had a 17 year old boy with leukemia who got to the point where he was refusing to take therapeutic drugs. You have to understand that the nausea you get with some of these drugs goes right down to your fingernails. It’s just awful. Some get to the point where you bump into someone in the supermarket in your treatment group you get nauseas just at the site of them. We had to struggle with him. Then one day, he came in, lied down on the table, took the drug, got up, said goodbye, and left. Whereas before he would vomit as he was leaving. Two weeks later, he had another and did the same thing. This time, Dr. Frei asked, what makes the difference? It was a battle to get you on the table before, and now it’s so easy and he said, well, I learned if I smoke some dope 20 minutes before coming in here, I don’t vomit. At home that night, Betsy said to me, based on what you said to Dr. Frei, don’t you think we should get some marijuana for Danny? And, I am ashamed to tell you this, I said, we can’t do that, it would be breaking the law, and also, I would not want to offend those people taking care of Danny. So I said no. You have to understand, my wife and I – one of use would never do something the other would object to in ordinary circumstances. Danny was scheduled for another chemotherapy session the next week. His treatment room was just a block from my office, so I would meet there. Usually, Danny’s face would just be radiating anxiety and that was contagious to Betsy’s face and it would soon affect me too. That’s what I expected, but I walked in and the two of them were joking- fooling around and joking. I wondered if they were playing a joke on me. I said come on, let me in on this. So they told me the following story. On the way to the hospital, they went to the Wellesley high school parking lot and asked his friend, Mark, if he could get her a little bit of marijuana. He ran off and came back in 10 minutes with some marijuana. He couldn’t believe Mrs. Grinspoon wanted it. He couldn’t imagine what he wanted it for. So they smoked a little bit in the hospital parking lot before coming in. He had the chemotherapy, got off the table, and as they were leaving the treatment room, Norman Jaffe, the physician there, he couldn’t believe this. And he said, hey mom, “can we stop for a sub sandwich on the way home?†and she said of course, and instead of going home to bed, he asked to go to school. He loved school. He had another session in two weeks, and I called Dr. Jaffe and told him the answer. Dr. Jaffe said he wouldn’t get in the way of them smoking, in fact he said, have them smoke in the treatment room, not the parking lot. I want to see this. The next time, he had the same experience. At that point Jaffe and I agreed to make an appointment with Dr. Frei. This was 1972 and I said, really this has to be studied. What if there are a lot of other patients like this boy in Texas and Danny who could get some relief. Frei got someone to undertake a study, but it couldn’t use children or smoked marijuana. They didn’t have Marinol then, but they used THC capsules in adults. Enough people got stunning relief that it was published in the NEJM in 1975 I think. Dr. Frei is the third name on it. Lester Grinspoon, the world’s most widely published authority on medical marijuana is a professor emeritus at Harvard Medical School. He began researching marijuana in the 1960’s and his interest in its medicinal uses became partly driven by his own young son’s struggle with chemotherapy. http://www.unacceptablelosses.org/WhtChapt...erGrinspoon.htm Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiger88 934 Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 They can't even raise the limit on alcohol % in beer. This won't pass, which is sad. Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-580823 Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinCrimson 61 Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 God, this will be an embarrassment. This isn't a good thing. This is a bad thing. Having the self-righteous clowns who control the AL Legislature "debate" this issue will be comical. There may be a couple who get on board, but this will mainly serve as a good opportunity to "out-Christian" the other guy and save our children from the ghastly horrors that follow the evil marijuana... MURDER, INSANITY, AND DEATH! I'll be shocked if it turns out any differently. A fringe member gets up and lobbies too strongly for medical Mary J before a Hank Erwin type takes the podium and articulates that the legalization of marijuana will cause every citizen in Alabama to go to hell. That'll pretty much be it. Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-580835 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitanTiger 22,262 Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 I'm not a "legalize illicit drugs" guy, but there should be some exceptions for specific medicinal uses by prescription. I mean, if we can get something like Oxycontin by Rx, there's no reason we shouldn't be able to get marijuana for treatment of nausea and other legit medical uses, under a doctor's care. Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-580841 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streyeder 0 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 I think this will eventually go the way of prohibition and you'll have state (and eventually county/city) ordinances governing the use. The Feds need to wake up. I'd rather they spend money tracking child porn peddlers than kids who smoke pot. (What can I say, I'm more willing to foot the bill of a rapist or child exploiter to stay in jail than some kid who was tarring up his own lungs.) Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-580865 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigermike 4,329 Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 "Dude, I agree." "Dude, we agree." Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-580898 Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNewby 27 Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 I have never suffered from any form of cancer, nor had to have any chemotherapy. But, when I was 19, I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. Crohn's effects the digestive system and can manifest anywhere from the esophagus to the rectum. Mine settled in my large intestine (colon). Back in the 60s not a lot was known about treatment. Special diet, a few prescription drugs, avoiding stress was about it. Symptoms included, in my case, bleeding, cramps, nausea and extreme anemia due to blood loss. I lost weight and strength. While I had periods where the severity of the Chrohn's would lessen, it always returned with a vengeance. I suffered for 28 years until finally in 1992, a wonderful surgeon in Birmingham operated and removed my colon and sewed up my rectum. Finally, after all the years, I was pain free. I gained weight and strength. I could go to ball games again. I could walk my dog and go to the grocery store. I had a new lease on life. What helped me survive the the ravages of Chrohn's until this surgery? What helped my nausea and desire to nourish myself? Marijuana. BTW, I have not smoked in years. But for people it can help the way it helped me, why not? Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-580943 Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUslug 1 Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 I'm all for medical marjiuana, but the buffons in Montgomery are gonna turn this into a disaster. Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-580969 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellefay1 1 Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 They can't even raise the limit on alcohol % in beer. This won't pass, which is sad. I can't wait to hear his thoughts on marijuana. Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-580981 Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietfan 233 Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 I think medical marijuana (THC) is fine...wish the Feds and the states would get out of the way, let pharmaceutical companies produce and sell regulated accurately-dosed pills or joints, and monitor it the same we monitor much more dangerous but prescription legal drugs like morphine, oxycotin, etc. What I worry about in Alabama right now, however, is this becoming a time-consuming, publicity-seeking debate among politicians in Montgomery that distracts them from much more urgent things--like fixing our 19th-century revenue system and a state on the verge of bankruptcy in both the education and general fund budgets. Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-581022 Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUloggerhead 3,257 Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Uh ... this ain't new. Medical marijuana has been used for "theraputic" purposes at AU & other colleges in AL for many years. There are certain advantages to going to a university that does research in agriculture. Just sayin'... Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-581048 Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNewby 27 Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Uh ... this ain't new. Medical marijuana has been used for "theraputic" purposes at AU & other colleges in AL for many years. There are certain advantages to going to a university that does research in agriculture. Just sayin'... Please beware the mushrooms. Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-581050 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streyeder 0 Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Uh ... this ain't new. Medical marijuana has been used for "theraputic" purposes at AU & other colleges in AL for many years. There are certain advantages to going to a university that does research in agriculture. Just sayin'... Actually, for an interesting fact: The only gov't approved marijuana grow-center is in Oxford, MS. There are also a handful of people who still receive marijuana from the feds for their ailments in a little-known and short-lived program from back in the day. Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-581218 Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinCrimson 61 Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 What I worry about in Alabama right now, however, is this becoming a time-consuming, publicity-seeking debate among politicians in Montgomery that distracts them from much more urgent things--like fixing our 19th-century revenue system and a state on the verge of bankruptcy in both the education and general fund budgets. Exactly. The ears of Hank Erwin and Hank Sanders light up when they hear potential for controversy. This "debate" will be an embarrassment. Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-581327 Share on other sites More sharing options...
auwallace 6 Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I know it will be embarrasing but the transcript should be comic gold. It will possibly out do the free the hops conversations. What I want to know is how in the hell do these idiots get to where they are.....why don't intelligent open minded people run for office in this state? Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-581338 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigermike 4,329 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I know it will be embarrasing but the transcript should be comic gold. It will possibly out do the free the hops conversations. What I want to know is how in the hell do these idiots get to where they are.....why don't intelligent open minded people run for office in this state? Because then they would be associated with the idiots already there. Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-581512 Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUslug 1 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I know it will be embarrasing but the transcript should be comic gold. It will possibly out do the free the hops conversations. What I want to know is how in the hell do these idiots get to where they are.....why don't intelligent open minded people run for office in this state? Because the idiots already in office will call em liburls out to take away day bibles and guns. Link to comment https://www.aufamily.com/topic/56203-medical-marjiuana-in-alabama/#findComment-581576 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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