Senator Barack Obama made very encouraging remarks to the Willamette Week regarding his intention to stop wasting our federal resources by arresting, prosecuting, and jailing medical marijuana patients and their providers in states that have legalized medical cannabis.  In his strongest and most clear pledge yet, Obama stated that he would stop the federal Drug Enforcement Agency's raids on Oregon's medical marijuana providers because "our federal agents have better things to do, like catching criminals and preventing terrorism."

Further, Senator Obama stated that he wanted to base his policies on medical cannabis on science and not politics.  He informed WW reporter James Pitkin that, "The way I want to approach the issue of medical marijuana is to base it on science, and if there is sound science that supports the use of medical marijuana and if it is controlled and prescribed in a way that other medicine is prescribed, then it's something that I think we should consider."

The Republican National Committee, on the other hand, wants the next president to continue the failed Bush Administration policy of wasting our limited resources by targeting patients and providers and ignoring scientific evidence.  The RNC attacked Obama with a press release stating that his policy based upon science and common sense "reveals that Barack Obama doesn’t have the experience necessary to do the job of President, or that he fundamentally lacks the judgment to carry out the most basic functions of the Executive Branch."   The RNC not only ignores science and sound policy, but as Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project told The New York Times , also the fact that “15 Republicans voted last year for the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment to cut off funding for Justice Department medical marijuana raids, including such flaming liberals as Tom Tancredo of Colorado and Dana Rohrabacher of California, a former Reagan staffer.”  Furthermore, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul also is a supporter of allowing states to determine their own medical marijuana laws.

It seems that today’s Republican Party establishment not only ignores science and common sense, but also the principle of limited government, a principle that the party once believed in.   Unfortunately,  Republicans  who follow the tradition and principles of Barry Goldwater are now  demonized and attacked right along with Barack Obama. 

Study: Marijuana Appears to Slow Cancer Growth in Laboratory Setting

Thursday , December 27, 2007

Certain marijuana components may suppress the tumors of highly invasive cancers, a new study finds.

In laboratory tests, cannabinoids, the active components in marijuana, were found to slow the spread of lung and cervical cancer tumors, according to researchers Robert Ramer and Burkhard Hinz of the University of Rostock in Germany.

Proponents of medical marijuana believe that cannabinoids reduce the side effects of cancer treatment, such as pain, weight loss and vomiting.

The study, published in the Jan. 2 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, finds that the compounds may also have an anticancer effect; however, more research is needed to determine whether the laboratory results will hold true in humans, the authors wrote.

Click here for the study.

In addition to suppressing tumor cell invasion, cannabinoids also stimulated the expression of TIMP-1, an inhibitor of a group of enzymes involved in tumor cell invasion.

"To our knowledge, this is the first report of TIMP-1-dependent anti-invasive effects of cannabinoids," the authors wrote. "This signaling pathway may play an important role in the antimetastatic action of cannabinoids, whose potential therapeutic benefit in the treatment of highly invasive cancers should be addressed in clinical trials."

Source: BBC News  
A compound found in cannabis may stop breast cancer spreading throughout the body, US scientists believe.

The California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute team are hopeful that cannabidiol or CBD could be a non-toxic alternative to chemotherapy.

Unlike cannabis, CBD does not have any psychoactive properties so its use would not violate laws, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics reports.

Initiative Petition 131, the so-called Oregon Crimefighting Act, pushed by right-wing Republican Kevin Mannix , will be pulled from circulation, Mr. Mannix informed The Willamette Week .  Mannix claims that lack of resources has caused him to end this ill-advised boondoggle even though the effort recieved a $50,000 contribution from Save Our Society From Drugs (S.O.S.), a Florida-based organization that works to treat patients like criminals all across the country.  Mannix and his cronies were attempting to mislead Oregon voters by hiding the repeal of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act (OMMA) behind provisions that increase the punishment for sex offenders and drunk drivers, while also establishing a taxpayer-funded Marinol prescription drug program that would cost hard-working Oregonians millions of dollars.

While we have won a major victory in 2008, the fight to preserve the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program continues as Mannix stated that he may try to abolish the program in 2010.   

Instead of showing compassion for sick and disabled patients, Mannix and S.O.S. work to put patients behind the bars of jail cells. Don't be fooled by Kevin Mannix and his political cronies --their proposals won't fight crime, it will create new crimes and treat law-abiding patients as drug dealers. 

Treating patients suffering through severe and debilitating medical conditions like cancer as criminals will divert our limited law enforcement resources from combatting violent and serious crimes as thousands of patients are investigated, arrested, convicted and jailed as common criminals.  We have witnessed such ill-advised tactics at the federal level as the Bush Administration has chosen to arrest medical marijuana patients and providers instead of allocating those resources towards fighting violent criminals and terrorists.  Further, Mannix hopes to waste millions of dollars on a boondoggle prescription drug program for an ineffective drug that patients don't even want!