It's Not Just About Getting High (wow, Bob Barr now backs Medical Marijuana?)

[The Straight Story]

It's Not Just About Getting High - Seven Marijuana Stocks


On Thursday, January 22, CNBC will be presenting a program called Marijuana Inc., which goes into depth about the big business of marijuana. But besides the illegal uses of marijuana, there are many medical uses. For example, the Journal of Neuroscience reported that the active ingredient in marijuana can be used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers found that cannabinoids can help prevent mental deterioration through the reductions of Alzheimer's related inflammation.

Even members of the government are starting to change their tune on the drug. Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, who had historically opposed medical marijuana use, has done a complete turnaround and now supports the adult use of medical marijuana. He is now a lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project.

So are there any public companies that can benefit from the marijuana sector? There seems to be a grass roots effort to get this budding industry growing, or maybe it is just a pipe dream.

A couple years ago, a Canadian company, Cannasat Therapeutics Inc. (CANNF.PK), went public, which trades on the Toronto Venture Exchange. The company is involved in the development of cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical products, which are utilized in the treatment of neuropathic pain, chronic pain, depression, anxiety and movement disorders. In addition, the company had owned, but recently sold, part of Prairie Plant Systems Inc., the only Canadian government licensed grower and distributor of medicinal cannabis. Cannasat is a very low cap stock and should therefore be considered very speculative.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/115726-it-s-not-just-about-getting-high-seven-marijuana-stocks

[ixion]

1. and even if it were about getting high

that's still no reason to have it be illegal, and to jail people for smoking it, medicinal or not.

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. !

:thumbsup:

[grannie4peace]

5. amen!!!!!!

:hi:

[Oldenuff]

13. thats the truth

if ever I heard it.

This issue has become forefront enough that it really should be addressed by the new administration,and not just for medical use.


and the sooner the better.

[Lance_Boyle]

2. Barr is a libertarian - it is not unusual at all for him to support legalization.

Now, if Eric Holder came out in favor of medical marijuana, I'd be impressed.

[truedelphi]

4. Same here. but I am not holding my breath.

Right now, I see Obama as a rebrand of the same old same old.

And am hoping that I am wrong. But to prove me wrong, he needs to make some really tough , hardball plays such as scrapping Geithner, Rubin and Summers for Kucinich, Issa and Waters.


Second on my list for Obama to receive my Gold Star approval is Universl Single Payer Health Care, not a re-visit of Senator Clinton's approach of keeping the CEO's feeding at the troughs.

And third is Medical Marijuana.

On edit, I want Holbrooke and Armitage as far away from our government as possible.

[1776Forever]

6. This is very personal to me and my family. Son has Primary Progressive MS.

Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis slowly takes your brain function away as well as your bladder function. It isn't a "nice" thing to have to experience seeing your loved one go through this as well of course the pain the person must endure. I would hope that my son, who just had a stint put in his heart in order to get therapy, would be able to try Marijuana to see if it would help him out through all this. He lives in Florida and with a Republican run government I don't know how good his chances are there.

If any of you remember there was a man who was sent to prison because he also had MS and tried to get drugs to help him get through is pain. Governor Crist did help this man get out of prison, so I am hoping there will be some movement to allow this to be given a chance in Florida someday soon!

Here is his story:

Paey given full pardon; Crist orders him freed today
Published September 20, 2007

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/09/20/Pasco/Paey_given_full_pardo.shtml

TALLAHASSEE -- Richard Paey is a chronic pain patient in year three of a 25-year mandatory-minimum sentence for trafficking in drugs -- his own pain medication.

But his freedom is just hours away.

Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet voted unanimously to grant Paey a full pardon Thursday morning for his 2004 conviction on drug trafficking and possession charges.

"We aim to right a wrong and exercise compassion and to do it with grace," the governor said. "Congratulations ... and I state he should be released today."

With that, Paey's wife Linda, their three children, a family friend and attorney John Flannery II hugged and cried at the podium, the entire cabinet meeting room erupting into applause at 9:40 a.m.

It was a stunning turn in the long saga of Paey, a 48-year-old Hudson man who suffers debilitating pain from a 1985 car wreck, botched back surgery and multiple sclerosis that has left him needing the use of a wheelchair in prison.

He was first arrested in 1997 and convicted on the third try in 2004 of possessing, trafficking and illegally obtaining the medication he needs for the searing, fiery pain in his back and legs.

..........

Thanks for posting!

[FatDave]

7. You know what would work well?

Just reduce sentences for marijuana related crime to community service. Possession gets you 20 hours, dealing gets you 100. Adjust for quantity if you like. We'd have happier potheads, cleaner highways, and less crowded prisons. Illness could exempt you from community service, which could allow medical use to go unpunished.

[slampoet]

9. If a soldier had to torture someone to save America. That soldier should be proud to serve a year

in jail and i even think that they might be treated very well in jail.

If anyone was caught with weed i think they'd would be proud to serve food at a soup kitchen for 20-30 hours too.

I think your idea is a reasonable one and it still lets illegality be a deterrent.

[slampoet]

8. Let me guess, Bob Barr knows someone in Chemo now. GOP'ers always oppose for others....

...but give to them selves and their own.

[Ghost in the Machine]

10. Marijuana Is Real Medicine

Marijuana Is Real Medicine

By Paul Krassner, Huffington Post. Posted October 2, 2008.

The stories of the medicinal properties of pot will blow you away.



Dying to Get High: Marijuana as Medicine is an important and accessible book -- not heavy on academic jargon, but rather lively and engaging, like a true detective novel -- with a broad appeal to those interested in the medical potential of cannabis, an end to the drug war and grass roots activism. I asked the co-authors, Wendy Chapkis and Richard Webb, how working on the book changed them.

WENDY CHAPKIS: "I certainly was one of those people who thought that 'medical marijuana' was probably mostly a way for Americans to get around ridiculously punitive drug laws. It seemed like a reasonable strategy to me. But the very first time I walked into a WAMM membership meeting, looked around the room and saw people who were ghostly white and frail, people in wheelchairs, people huddled in small groups talking about a WAMM member who needed round the clock care, I realized that medical marijuana was no 'ruse.' These were very ill people. And, as I started doing interviews, the stories of the medicinal properties of pot blew me away.

"I wasn't the only one surprised to discover that marijuana did in fact have therapeutic effects. Many patients were equally astonished. Like me, they had been recreational users who appreciated the pleasurable effects of marijuana and were suspicious of the claim that the herb was medicine. Then they started chemotherapy, for example, found themselves fighting off non-stop nausea, took a hit and the nausea disappeared. Or they had intolerable nerve pain from multiple sclerosis, AIDS or post-polio syndrome, used some cannabis tincture and the pain quieted down. It was funny how surprised we all were that it really worked.

"I think this shows how effective drug-war propaganda really is. Even (or maybe especially) people who are very familiar with marijuana are prepared to believe that it doesn't really work as a medicine. Of course, since the discovery of the cannabinoid receptor system in the body (and the production of endogenous cannabinoids), scientists haven't been at all surprised at the medical properties of the plant -- which I guess helps explain why the feds have been so reluctant to allow any scientific research. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/101389/marijuana_is_real_medicine

[Blue_In_AK]

11. I don't believe this is an entirely new position for him.

He's a Libertarian.

[Donnachaidh]

12. Bob Barr is so desperate to be relevant

Come on folks -- this guy would advocate *anything* to keep his face and voice out in the public. He's probably going to be looking to back all sorts of things he didn't as a repuke, because he thinks he'll still have a shot at the presidency four years from now.

He's NOT someone who had a *revelation* - he's someone who will pick and choose his *groups* in order to use those groups later on.

Are you REALLY going to trust this schmuck? He's the poor man's Newt Gingrich, right down to the carpetbag and the snake oil pitches.

[spanone]

bob barr doesn't believe shit...he's paid to believe anything for the moment

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

14. Its that Ron Paul libertarian influence

especially when he saw how much money paul raised, and his grassroots following via the internets.

but whatever, I am all for decriminalization.