Doctors, patients, and industry are bashing the organizers of HempCon, which took place August 6-8 in San Jose, for running a de facto medical marijuana prescription mill out of the trade show. Eyewitnesses noted long lines of young adults without medical records quickly processed by seven or eight doctors for $40 per person. “I would consider one doctor a prescription mill. This was seven or eight. My best way to describe it was a price war,” said attendee Bob Katzman, who runs the International Cannabis & Hemp Expo. HempCon organizers Mega Productions — noted for [...]
Aug 272010
In a test of how much marijuana reasonably can be carried for personal medical needs, a Sacramento jury Tuesday convicted a man of felony transportation for attempting to take 3 pounds of pot through Sacramento International Airport. The case of Matthew Zugsberger, 34, a deep sea diver injured in an oil rig accident, left jurors saying they were confused by California’s hazy medical marijuana laws and troubled by the case they had to decide. Earlier in the day, the Sacramento Bee’s Peter Hecth reports, jurors had told Sacramento Superior Court Judge Roland Candee that they [...]
Mar 032010
Matthew Zugsberger checked his luggage at Sacramento International Airport in December 2008, with marijuana bags concealed in a metal dominoes case and duct-taped inside a wetsuit. He cleared security with another stash in his pants, writes Peter Hecht of the Sacramento Bee. On Tuesday, the ex-deep sea diver – who says he has used marijuana to treat his pain since crushing vertebrae in an oil platform accident – went on trial in Sacramento Superior Court on felony charges that could land him in prison for four years. He also took the stage – and the [...]
San Jose Mercury News columnist Scott Herhold offers his take on the city of Gilroy’s opposition to a new medical marijuana dispensary. His advice — drop it — is worth heeding in Gilroy and many other communities. ==================== Tucked away in the corner of a strip mall on Gilroy’s west side, near a dance studio and a martial arts center, is a storefront clinic called MediLeaf, a medical marijuana dispensary with a small cannabis leaf on its sign. On a wallboard inside is the message, “To love oneself is a long romance.” Under that is [...]
Dr. Lynn Ponton, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco, offers a medical perspective in this excerpt from a guest column published by the San Francisco Chronicle. “It’s my medicine, Doc,” said 18-year-old Jonathan, when I asked him why he was smoking marijuana every day. Surprised that any physician would prescribe marijuana for the anxious, depressed and disorganized adolescent sitting in my psychiatric office, I asked him where he had obtained the prescription. “A doc just like you. I heard about her from a friend. Anyone over 18 can get [...]
Nov 122009
“Doctor’s ‘recommendations’ – they’re not formal prescriptions – stir intense debate in the medical community, even among cannabis doctors.” So writes Peter Hecht in this insightful Sacramento Bee article. “The growth has been steady. We open up a new clinic every few months,” the article quotes Matthew Desanto, marketing director for MediCann, which already has 20 offices open in California. “Honestly, it’s just that patients need to use cannabis as medicine.” The article notes that medical marijuana dispensaries are required to operate as nonprofits, but there’s no such requirement on clinics providing recommendations for medical [...]
“Because cannabis is psychoactive, meaning it affects a patient’s judgment, balance, perception, coordination and cognitive functions like concentration and short term memory, there are risks inherently associated with its use.” So writes Dr. Sean Breen in this post on the Medical Cannabis of Southern California Web site. The company operates three clinics providing medical recommendations for cannabis. While the pot doc’s warning doesn’t go into great detail, it avoids the logical leap into the abyss taken by many pot users: Since nobody died from smoking pot (allegedly), it can’t be that harmful. Breen explains that [...]
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