Wowee, Look Who's Back.

[GregS]

WEED 2: Cannabis Madness: Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports"  

 

Premieres on CNN Tuesday, March 11 at 10 pm ET

After sparking a national debate with his acclaimed documentary Weed, and op-ed "Why I changed my mind on weed," CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta delves deeper into the challenges of legalizing medical marijuana.

 

Weed 2: Cannabis Madness: Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports, premiering Tuesday, March 11th at 10 pm ET, looks at U.S. federal laws that consider marijuana a drug with no medicinal value and serious scientists who say they’re wrong. It is the politics of pot - the politicians vs. the patients.

Legal in 20 states plus the District of Columbia, limited access to medicinal marijuana has caused significant battles between legislators and qualified patients seeking this type of treatment. Vivian Wilson, a 2-year-old girl suffering from chronic seizures, is one of those patients.  Wilson made headlines in 2013 when her father confronted New Jersey Governor Chris Christie pleading "please don't let my daughter die" and imploring him to legalize medical marijuana in the state.

 

In the one-hour documentary, Gupta gets exclusive access to the journey of Vivian's family who, along with many patients, are willing to do anything to get medical marijuana and face many legal challenges along the way. He meets with dozens of families dubbed “medical marijuana refugees” who have moved to Colorado, where pot is legal, to get medical marijuana for their sick children.  Gupta also examines disparities in the U.S. government's research into the benefits of medical marijuana and reports on groundbreaking discoveries in other countries. Gupta’s investigation takes him around the world looking for answers, including a rare inside look at a pharmaceutical company in the United Kingdom that is the only one in the world turning pot into a prescription drug.

 

[trichcycler]

I think this may be a good thing for our community. I hope he continues to educate on our behalf.

[+washtenaut]

Yes, Sanjay is very big in the recent movement on cannabis and CNN is a great forum for cannabis press.

 

Excellent news for investors in the MJ sector too.  Also sounds like GWPH should get a boost from the show.

[trichcycler]

do you believe the investors and GW will put the marijuana community steps ahead, or behind?  I'm just not sure yet, but I'm hoping so. there's just no stopping them now.

[+washtenaut]

When trying to convince skeptics that cannabis is real medicine, I direct them to   http://gwpharm.com   and tell them to go to the R&D tab.  This is a great resource.

 

Then, if your skeptic has any investing interest, show him the stock chart of GWPH since it opened last spring at a little under $9.00.  Today it is over $60.  Movement like that seldom happens on the NASDAQ exchange without something behind the story.

 

I think GW is furthering the medical argument by leaps and bounds.  However, they are not and will never promote raw cannabis as medicine.  They will say that their product is the only worthy cannabis medicine because it will be FDA approved and because they are a business and they have a mandate to make a profit.  In this respect, they will not help our cause but we can ride them for a while.

[+Malamute]

They actually pay for lobbyists to go state to state and speak out against "crude" cannabis when we try to pass natural medical cannabis laws.

 

It is usually done through their North American Partner, Otsuka, who hires up losers to preach that natural cannabis is not medicine.

[GregS]

They actually pay for lobbyists to go state to state and speak out against "crude" cannabis when we try to pass natural medical cannabis laws.

 

It is usually done through their North American Partner, Otsuka, who hires up losers to preach that natural cannabis is not medicine.

The reason we stand and fight.

[+Malamute]

I just wanted to pass this on.

 

 People quite often wonder who these anti drug groups are and such.  One of the big 501©4's ya find out there a lot is "Save our Society From Drugs". 

 

http://www.saveoursociety.org/annual-reports

 

 Worth taking a look.  They even whine about Michigan in their 2008 report. :-)  They joined up with the Devos's money to oppose our Act.

 

 Anyhow,... look at their 2012 report and their supporter/collaborators list on the last 2 pages.  Should tell ya who to look out for. :-)

 

http://www.saveoursociety.org/sites/saveoursociety.org/files/2012%20SOS%20Annual%20Report_0.pdf

 

 

Just for a teaser

 

Michigan Office of the Governor
Michigan Prosecuting Attorneys Association

[jointedone]

I'm investing in GW Pharm.   You guys should too.Take advantage of capitalism and NASDAQ.

[pergamum362]

I did already. We got in when it was just above 40 a share, stock broker said we would of made a fortune had we done so 6 months ago. I think we still will.

[imiubu]

Thanks Mal.

 

Disturbing and unfortunately not surprising.

[+washtenaut]

Gupta: 'I am doubling down' on medical marijuana

By Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent

March 5, 2014 -- Updated 2012 GMT (0412 HKT)

Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores politics of pot

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• A growing number of patients want cannabis as a medicine
• "It is irresponsible to not provide the best care we can," Sanjay Gupta says
• Those with influence are paying attention to the debate
• The public has become intensely engaged

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/05/health/gupta-medical-marijuana/

 

 

Editor's note: Don't miss "Weed 2: Cannabis Madness: Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports," at 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Also, Dr. Gupta will be answering your questions on Reddit at noon ET Friday.

(CNN) -- It's been eight months since I last wrote about medical marijuana, apologizing for having not dug deeply into the beneficial effects of this plant and for writing articles dismissing its potential. I apologized for my own role in previously misleading people, and I feel very badly that people have suffered for too long, unable to obtain the legitimate medicine that may have helped them.

I have been reminded that a true and productive scientific journey involves a willingness to let go of established notions and get at the truth, even if it is uncomfortable and even it means having to say "sorry."

It is not easy to apologize and take your lumps, but this was never about me.

This scientific journey is about a growing number of patients who want the cannabis plant as a genuine medicine, not to get high.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a practicing neurosurgeon and CNN's chief medical correspondent.

It is about emerging science that not only shows and proves what marijuana can do for the body but provides better insights into the mechanisms of marijuana in the brain, helping us better understand a plant whose benefits have been documented for thousands of years. This journey is also about a Draconian system where politics override science and patients are caught in the middle.

Since our documentary "Weed" aired in August, I have continued to travel the world, investigating and asking tough questions about marijuana.

I have met with hundreds of patients, dozens of scientists and the curious majority who simply want a deeper understanding of this ancient plant. I have sat in labs and personally analyzed the molecules in marijuana that have such potential but are also a source of intense controversy. I have seen those molecules turned into medicine that has quelled epilepsy in a child and pain in a grown adult. I've seen it help a woman at the peak of her life to overcome the ravages of multiple sclerosis.

Georgia House approves medical marijuana

Fla. to vote on medical marijuana

Can medical marijuana help seizures?

I am more convinced than ever that it is irresponsible to not provide the best care we can, care that often may involve marijuana.

I am not backing down on medical marijuana; I am doubling down.

I should add that, although I've taken some heat for my reporting on marijuana, it hasn't been as lonely a position as I expected. Legislators from several states have reached out to me, eager to inform their own positions and asking to show the documentary to their fellow lawmakers.

I've avoided any lobbying, but of course it is gratifying to know that people with influence are paying attention to the film. One place where lawmakers saw a long clip was Georgia, where the state House just passed a medical marijuana bill by a vote of 171-4. Before the legislative session started, most people didn't think this bill had a chance.

More remarkable, many doctors and scientists, worried about being ostracized for even discussing the potential of marijuana, called me confidentially to share their own stories of the drug and the benefit it has provided to their patients. I will honor my promise not to name them, but I hope this next documentary will enable a more open discussion and advance science in the process.

Marijuana is classified as a Schedule I substance, defined as "the most dangerous" drugs "with no currently accepted medical use."

Neither of those statements has ever been factual. Even many of the most ardent critics of medical marijuana don't agree with the Schedule I classification, knowing how it's impeded the ability to conduct needed research on the plant.

Even the head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Dr. Nora Volkow, seems to have softened her stance; she told me she believes we need to loosen restrictions for researchers.

Along the way, the public has become intensely engaged. Our collective society has paid closer attention to this issue than ever before, and with that increased education, support for medical marijuana has only grown, including in some unexpected places.

Pete Carroll, the coach of the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks, said the National Football League should explore medical marijuana if it helps players. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hasn't dismissed the idea, saying that if marijuana is reconsidered by the medical establishment, the league would treat it the same as any other medicine. Goodell also says the NFL is following the science that suggests marijuana may help recovery from concussions.

Recently, I had the chance to tell him that the United States already holds a patent on medical marijuana for that very purpose. Patent No. 6630507: Cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke or trauma.

However, this particular issue still bothers me: How can the government deny the benefits of medical marijuana even as it holds a patent for those very same benefits? Members of the Food and Drug Administration declined my repeated requests for an interview.

This past year, President Barack Obama told the New Yorker magazine, "I don't think (marijuana) is more dangerous than alcohol." And yet, as alcohol remains available to any adult, the president has not moved to remove marijuana from the list of the most tightly controlled substances in the country.

Since I started my reporting on this topic, I have mostly resisted temptation to inject a subjective moral equivalency into this discussion, such as pitting alcohol against marijuana or reminding you that cocaine and methamphetamine are actually more available than marijuana to patients, physicians and medical researchers: They are Schedule II drugs, with recognized medical uses. Or telling you that on average, a person dies every 19 minutes in this country from a legal prescription drug overdose, while it is virtually unheard-of to die from a marijuana overdose.

But, with a discussion like this, consistency does matter. Terms matter, too.

We are talking about a medicine, known scientifically as cannabis. In order for people to start thinking of this substance as a medicine, perhaps we should start calling it by its medical name, something that was suggested to me by medical marijuana advocates pretty much everywhere I went this year.

I've tried to pull together these latest developments in our new documentary, "Cannabis Madness." Although the 1936 film "Reefer Madness" was propaganda made to advance an agenda with dramatic falsehoods and hyperbole, I hope you will find "Cannabis Madness" an accurate reflection of what is happening today, injected with the best current science.

You will meet families all across the country -- a stay-at-home mom from Ohio, a nurse practitioner from Florida, an insurance salesman from Alabama -- more than 100 families who have all left jobs, homes, friends and family behind and moved to Colorado to get the medicine that relieves their suffering.

As things stand now, many of these good people don't ever get to return home. Why? Because transporting their medicine, even if it is a non-psychoactive cannabis oil, could get them arrested for drug trafficking. And so they are stuck, cannabis refugees.

You will meet them, and if you're like me, you'll be heartbroken to hear their stories, but you'll also have a lump in your throat when you see the raw, true love these parents have for their sick children.

History books may one day draw a parallel between this chapter of medical marijuana and the story of David and Goliath. Playing the role of David's slingshot, which ultimately brought Goliath to his knees, would be a 2-year-old girl named Vivian Wilson. She inspired her father to challenge the system in a spectacular way that caused a nation to stop for a moment and take note.

For months, we have filmed and followed the Wilson family with all of their trials and tribulations, and you will meet the whole family in the upcoming documentary.

I am a father myself, first and foremost. I don't want my children taking or being offered a psychoactive substance. As a neurosurgeon, I know that the developing brain is more susceptible to the most harmful effects of cannabis and that brain development continues well into our mid-20s.

I also worry that generations from now, my great-grandkids will find Internet headlines referring to me as the "pot doc." I do hope they will also read the rest of the story and understand the lives of the countless people who have suffered needlessly when a plant could have helped. I hope they know that I have dedicated my time to researching the medical literature, speaking to the scientists in person and piecing together a fact-based presentation meant to educate, not frighten.

I hope future generations won't consider me naive. Yes, I know there is a concern that many people out there will feign ailments just to get marijuana. But withholding legitimate treatment for the needy is a very unjust way of addressing that concern.

As a physician and reporter, I feel a deeper obligation to present the real stories, soundly supported with the science from all over the world.

When I first apologized for my previous marijuana reporting, I was thinking about the impact that reporting may have had on Charlotte Figi. She is a sweet little girl whose brain was locked in nearly nonstop seizure activity. Without success, she tried seven different medications, stringent diets and high-dose supplements. Modern medicine had nothing more to offer, which is why her parents turned to an ancient plant. As you know, it worked.

And, as you will see, she is one of so many patients out there, suffering from different ailments, who believe cannabis rescued them when nothing else did.

For conditions like Charlotte's, the American Epilepsy Society says that there are a million people for whom existing therapies do not control their seizures. The society recently said anecdotes about medical marijuana "give reason for hope" and said it supports "well-controlled studies that will lead to a better understanding of the disease and the development of safe and effective treatments."

You should know that Charlotte continues to do well. When I saw her around the holidays, she ran over and gave me a hug. She looked me in the eyes, took me by the hand and led me all around to meet her friends. She is a delightful, happy and now healthy little girl.

I know the discussion around this topic will no doubt get heated. I have felt that heat. But I feel a greater responsibility than ever to make sure those heated discussions are also well-informed by science.

And, with that: I hope you get a chance to watch on March 11 at 10 p.m. Eastern.

[t-pain]

oh good, i had some thoughts he might reverse and go full-prohibition.

 

its kind of strange this guy is a big doctor name and no one has a clue who the actual surgeon general is.

 

Rear ADM Boris D. Lushniak
(Acting) since July 17, 2013

 

a ruskie?? ehe

[trichcycler]

I'm having a moral dilemma concerning investing(financially supporting) in a company who's goal is to remove medical marijuana from the people, and hand it to big pharma. If they're "selling out" for the patents and big pharma route, who would I be selling out for if I traded support for personal profits?  I need some bhang right now, scuse me.

I'm investing in GW Pharm.   You guys should too.Take advantage of capitalism and NASDAQ.

[GregS]

I'm having a moral dilemma concerning investing(financially supporting) in a company who's goal is to remove medical marijuana from the people, and hand it to big pharma. If they're "selling out" for the patents and big pharma route, who would I be selling out for if I traded support for personal profits?  I need some bhang right now, scuse me.

Easy now brother. Take a deep breath and let it out real slooow. When you can harvest it from between the squash and pumpkins you will be glad you didn't. Money does some pretty crazy schit.

[jointedone]

Grass,then don't do it and stop lecturing other people that support our economy. It's as simple as that. Great for you if you can live the altrustic life,we can't. We have bills to pay,and the first cut had to come from my MMJ card. Need to buy gms now instead of ozs. The gas company doesn't care that I am sick,they want their money. And BTW the bill has risen over 100 bucks for the same amount of useage. Must be those dang COAL MINES,or that horrible KEYSTONE PIPELINE. See,I was taught by my middle class working Dad that if you don't have the money,you don't buy it. And no,we don't have an HD flat screen TV either. Or cable, or dental insurance,the minimum RX coverage and Hospital coverage. So you are much better than we are,and your opinion really counts.

[pergamum362]

Its going to happen anyway, i might as well get a piece of the pie.

[pic book]

Yes, Sanjay is very big in the recent movement on cannabis and CNN is a great forum for cannabis press.

 

Excellent news for investors in the MJ sector too.  Also sounds like GWPH should get a boost from the show.

the boost is coming ahead of the show.  MNTR traded at $8.70 yest.

[GanjaWarrior]

Grass,then don't do it and stop lecturing other people that support our economy. It's as simple as that. Great for you if you can live the altrustic life,we can't. We have bills to pay,and the first cut had to come from my MMJ card. Need to buy gms now instead of ozs. The gas company doesn't care that I am sick,they want their money. And BTW the bill has risen over 100 bucks for the same amount of useage. Must be those dang COAL MINES,or that horrible KEYSTONE PIPELINE. See,I was taught by my middle class working Dad that if you don't have the money,you don't buy it. And no,we don't have an HD flat screen TV either. Or cable, or dental insurance,the minimum RX coverage and Hospital coverage. So you are much better than we are,and your opinion really counts.

then stop lecturing people? no stop supporting things hurting us.

[Restorium2]

then stop lecturing people? no stop supporting things hurting us.

Yes, like fake legalization.

[phaquetoo]

I'm investing in GW Pharm.   You guys should too.Take advantage of capitalism and NASDAQ.

I hope that helps you to get your meds that you have said numerious times you cant afford because your hubby dont make enough cash, maybe you could play the market and get your meds from the profit!

 

Peace

[+washtenaut]

Freep article on Weeds 2

 

http://www.freep.com/article/20140310/NEWS06/303100132/Sanjay-Gupta-CNN-medical-marijuana-cannabis