This piece contains the last interview of Dr. Tod Mikuriya. 9/20/33 – 5/20/07. R.I.P. The piece also contains some of the big players in Prop. 215 movement. NORML being one!

It’s a dream come true! An event called, HEMP CON (on the celebrity tip) coming to the Los Angeles Convention Center. Since this national event will help boost L.A. tourism, legendary L.A. icon Zuma Dogg has agreed to be guest speaker at this three day February event!

Director
468 North Camden Drive, Suite #200
Beverly Hills, California USA 90210
Phone: 800-560-7891 Mobile: 310-717-0897
Email: Cheryl@NORML90210.org
Website: www.NORML90210.org

For Immediate Release:
NORML Names Activist Cheryl Shuman as Executive Director in Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills, CA.—January 5, 2010 — Cannabis has captured the attention of the world. At the same time the Obama administration announced it will no longer seek to prosecute patients and dispensaries of medicinal marijuana, the Los Angeles City Council vows to shut down all over the counter dispensaries.

The international media capitalized on the “Stiletto Stoners” phenomenon fascinated by women’s use of cannabis. Celebrities like Michael Phelps and Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes who were cited for marijuana possession are putting a new face on this controversial plant.

Riding that wave, the national office of NORML, the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Law announces it’s newest chapter in Beverly Hills, California with Cheryl Shuman named as the Executive Director. “As the Executive Director for Beverly Hills NORML90210.org, it’s my job to remove the negative stigma and stereotypes of a cannabis user. Real women and men behind the Marijuana Reform movement are taking a stand to make a change by boldly coming “out of the closet” to educate the public.”

Cheryl Shuman brings 25 years of experience working with media, celebrities, marketing and health care in Beverly Hills. Shuman found her passion in the cannabis movement since 1996 working as an activist and legal cannabis patient. Since using cannabis therapy, she has survived cancer and injuries from two car crashes.

“The therapeutic value of socialization and the building of family and community can not be underestimated. The right of patients to peaceably assemble – to socialize and build family and community, and network and organize – is paramount for their health and recovery. Our meetings for Beverly Hills NORML will provide the fellowship for patients and activists,” states Shuman.

Beverly Hills NORML90210 supports the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in its mission to “move public opinion sufficiently to achieve the repeal of marijuana prohibition so that the responsible use of cannabis by adults is no longer subject to penalty.”
“We as a modern society can fiscally improve our budget by moving cannabis from the criminal sector into the lawful sector. This is not a left or right issue–it’s really common sense. Regulation and taxation of marijuana could produce billions of dollars in additional tax revenue as well as save on the enormous costs of law enforcement. Bottom line is the prohibition of marijuana has been a fiscal fiasco,” says Cheryl Shuman.

With regard to the ordinance, NORML says it would cost the city millions of dollars in lost sales taxes and thousands of jobs. There are an estimated 1,000 medical cannabis dispensaries in Los Angeles county. A judge recently ruled the ban on new medical marijuana dispensaries was invalid. Cheryl Shuman met with the top legal minds in the Medical Cannabis movement working with Jacek Lentz to form a Non-Profit Corporation to work with the medical marijuana patients and collectives throughout the area.

With all of the recent news about marijuana, NORML90210 hopes to continue with efforts towards legalization.

“The cannabis movement is not just the “Stiletto Stoners” or the medical marijuana patients or the stereotypical “Deadheads” from the 70s. It includes a broad cross section of Americans who should have the right to responsibly use marijuana without the fear of prosecution. As prohibition of alcohol finally ended, it is our goal to have the same outcome–end the prohibition of marijuana. We invite you to join us in building a better informed, kinder and more compassionate world,” states Shuman.

To learn more about NORML visit www.norml.org. To get more information about the Beverly Hills chapter of NORML, visit www.NORML90210.org. The chapter also has a group on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/norml.beverlyhills.

About NORML:
Founded in 1970, NORML supports the right of adults to use marijuana responsibly, whether for medical or personal purposes. All penalties, both civil and criminal, should be eliminated for responsible use. Further, to eliminate the crime, corruption and violence associated with any “black market,” a legally regulated market should be established where consumers could buy marijuana in a safe and secure environment. NORML also supports the legalization of hemp (non-psychoactive marijuana) for industrial use.

About Cheryl Shuman:
Cheryl Shuman, C.E.O. has been interviewed for hundreds of television programs, newspapers and magazines, including but not limited to: Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, Today Show NBC, HBO Entertainment News, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and more.
Through her personal relationships and connections with Hollywood elite, CherylShuman.com is the first and only company of their kind and at the forefront of entertainment marketing, celebrity endorsements, product placement integration, sponsorships, production and technology. [So of course they had to contact legendary, show-stopping, celebrity endorsementer... ZD!]

WHAT IS GLAUCOMA????
The term glaucoma actually refers to a whole group of diseases, each of which gradually erodes the sight without warning. The disease often has no warning signs in the early stages and some experts suggest that half of the people affected by glaucoma don’t even know they have it.

This loss of vision is caused by damage to the optic nerve, which is responsible for carrying the images from the eye to the brain and, as yet, there is no cure. It is known that one of the risk factors for glaucoma is raised intra-ocular pressure (IOP), that is, raised pressure within the eyeball.

Marijuana and Glaucoma
Way back in the early 1970’s studies were undertaken that proved marijuana lowered IOP, both in patients with glaucoma and patients with normal IOP. Following on from this, the National Eye Institute (NEI) supported studies that demonstrated marijuana did indeed lower the IOP when administered intravenously, orally, or by smoking. When applied directly to the eye, however, the pressure lowering effect was not seen. It was also found that the lowered pressure was only transient and soon rose to pre-medication level.

The NEI position statement on glaucoma and marijuana sadly suggests that they are not in favor of pursuing marijuana as a treatment. They are particularly concerned because, they say, ‘the high dose of marijuana necessary to produce a clinically relevant effect on IOP in the short term requires constant inhalation, as much as every three hours.’

No drug is perfect and it is a fact that many elderly patients with glaucoma cannot tolerate the increased heart rate that cannabis frequently causes, despite the 25% reduction in IOP.

The World Health Organization position statement on marijuana and glaucoma is dramatically different from that of the NEI:

‘While THC has long been known to reduce the increased intraocular pressure of glaucoma, it has not been fully studied therapeutically….

Therapeutic uses of cannabinoids are being demonstrated by controlled studies in the treatment of glaucoma.’

Glaucoma affects more than 60 million people worldwide and, after cataracts, it is the leading cause of blindness. With its epidemiology, it stands to reason that there is ongoing research to find drugs that work ways other than the reduction of IOP. Scientists have also discovered CB1 receptors in the eye, which suggests that cannabis may work in ways other than reduction of IOP, an area worthy of future research.

There is also some suggestion of adding cannabis to pharmaceutical eye drops.

Dr. Lester Grinspoon may very well be the most influential marijuana activist of all time. If there were an award for achievement in changing the way people think about smoking marijuana Dr. Grinspoon would win hands down. During his more than 4 decades of honest intellectual contributions and recommendation for re-thinking the use of cannabis and the laws related to marijuana Dr. Grinspoon founded the Harvard Mental Health Letter, and was its editor for fifteen years, which among other qualifications, put him in a better position than any contemporary American physician to tell the truth about drugs.

Dr. Grinspoon is Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the author or co-author of over 160 journal articles, including his 1995 commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association entitled “Marihuana as Medicine: A Plea for Reconsideration.” His first book, Marihuana Reconsidered, originally published in 1971 by Harvard University Press, was recently republished as a classic. His latest book, Marihuana, the Forbidden Medicine, co-authored with James B. Bakalar, was published by Yale University Press in 1993 (revised and expanded edition, 1997) and has now been translated into ten languages. Dr. Grinspoon was also a reviewer of the 1999 Institute of Medicine report, “Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base.”

[View with PicLens]

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How Many Pot Leafs Do You See? Leave a comment Let us Know.. Happy Counting …

According to the Oklahoma State Courts Network, Moses was charged Tuesday and is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 8.
Moses was suspended for Oklahoma State’s 79-61 victory over Coppin State on Tuesday night following his arrest early Monday morning. Continue
I

After examining information from both sides of the debate, it’s clear that marijuana is a useful medication that can aid suffering people and the time has come for the state of Wisconsin to allow marijuana to be prescribed as medicine.

On Tuesday the Wisconsin State Legislature’s combined health committee was holding a hearing to listen to advocates seeking to have medical marijuana legalized in this state.

The “Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act Hearings” included many stories from people who suffer from cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and other physical ailments that are improved or eased by the use of cannabis.

Medical marijuana is not about people “getting high” or anything that goes along with stereotypical recreational drug use. Marijuana, if abused, is a harmful drug. Granted, it’s less harmful than alcohol or tobacco, but it’s a drug none-the-less and under existing laws its possession, manufacture and distribution should be investigated and prosecuted. Law enforcement officers making marijuana arrests are doing their job.

However, after examining all of the arguments against medical marijuana, they don’t nearly equal the positives that come with cannabis when used as medicine. It allows cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy to eat. It also returns the appetite to patients suffering from full-blown AIDS. Furthermore, it eases the pain and pressure on the eyes of patients suffering from glaucoma. There are many other documented legitimate medical uses for cannabis. A well-regulated medical marijuana distribution program in Wisconsin is a necessity.

Advocating for medical marijuana isn’t without its pitfalls. How do you tell kids that smoking pot is bad when you advocate for medical marijuana? Well, that’s an issue that deals with perception. Nobody would say that morphine is good for a healthy human being. However, it is appropriate to prescribe morphine for someone with an acute, painful injury or someone suffering the late stages of a terminal illness. Marijuana’s healing abilities shouldn’t be dismissed due to perception.

While some people will say that synthetic or other pharmaceutical alternatives to cannabis are equally as effective, the truth is that overwhelming patient anecdotes show they are not. The bottom line is that people who are suffering from physical afflictions that can be eased by the use of cannabis should not have to do anything illegal to ease their pain.

A claim in the legislature, Tuesday, that the fight for medical marijuana was a ploy to legalize the drug, was reactionary. This argument is about helping people who are ill — nothing more.

The state of Wisconsin should join the 13 other states in the nation that have allowed for the use of medical marijuana. There is no substitute for this medicine. The excuses for continuing to keep its medicinal use illegal are not compelling.

—Matt Johnson

Wish we could have done this in back when we went to High School!

Try it! Let us know how it goes!

I wanna hit ……..

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New York police arrested Anthony Brioridy for drug dealing this week and he now faces 22 counts of it. According to police, he had lots of narcotics for sale. You could buy cocaine, Percocet, Xanax, oxycodone, ecstasy and ketamine, and of course, Liquid Marijuana. That’s right, liquid marijuana!

His alleged specialty, however, was a brownish-green “homemade remedy” that supposedly launched users on an hallucinogenic eight-hour high — at a price of $120 for a 15-to-20-ounce shot.

Undercover cops trailed Brioridy for a number of months as he allegedly peddled drugs from his car, before invited them to his home on 76th Street in Bensonhurst.

There, he allegedly brewed the distilled resins of pot fermented with 180-proof grain alcohol.

The concoction was supposed to be mixed with juice or soda.

Even the cops were surprised by this.

“It has not been seen around here before,” Capt. Gerard Dowling of Manhattan South narcotics stated.

Unfortunately, these guys arrested him before I had a chance to sample it and I’m not even that far from Brooklyn. Disappointing.