At this school, it's marijuana in every class

Submitted by Jerome L. Himmelstein on Sunday, 11/29/2009, at 1:40 PM

Andrea Jensen alerted me to this article from the NYT, 11-29.    It describes the situation under Michigan's new medical marijuana law.   It is typical of the issues arising in several states that have legalized medical marijuana:   Who gets to grow it?   How do patients get access to it?

The line between legal medical marijuana and legal marijuana is a fuzzy one.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/education/29marijuana.html?hp

MAINE EXPANDS MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Submitted by Jerome L. Himmelstein on Wednesday, 11/4/2009, at 11:51 AM

On November 3rd voters in Maine decided to expand Maine's medical marijuana law by allowing state-regulated dispensaries to grow the drug and sell it to patients.  Voters also decided to expand the list of medical conditions for which a person can use the drug.    The changes also forbid discrimination against medical marijuana users by employers, landlords, and schools.

"U.S. Won’t Prosecute in States That Allow Medical Marijuana "

Submitted by Jerome L. Himmelstein on Thursday, 10/22/2009, at 11:12 AM

The Department of Justice has issued new guidelines to Federal prosecutors setting a low priority on prosecuting persons who possess and use marijuana in compliance with state medical marijuana laws.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/us/20cannabis.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

"STEPS TO GREATER ACCOUNTABILITY IN MEDICAL EDUCATION"

Submitted by Jerome L. Himmelstein on Thursday, 10/22/2009, at 11:09 AM

An October 20th article in the New York Times reports that the organizations that accredit continuing medical education courses for doctors are under increasing pressure "to fight drug industry influence in the classroom."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/business/21medic.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

"DRUG MAKERS ARE ADVOCACY GROUP'S BIGGEST DONORS"

Submitted by Jerome L. Himmelstein on Thursday, 10/22/2009, at 11:07 AM

An article in the New York Times reports that drug makers contributed about 3/4 of the donations received by the advocacy group National Alliance on Mental Illness from 2006 through 2008.    The article also reports that drug companies have also advised NAMI on how to advocate for issues affecting industry profits.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/health/22nami.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

Los Angeles Prepares for Clash Over Marijuana

Submitted by Jerome L. Himmelstein on Monday, 10/19/2009, at 12:28 PM

    The legalization of medical marijuana in California has led to the proliferation of "dispensaries" that sell marijuana, presumably to the 300,000 Californians with a doctor's referral.   Los Angeles county alone has between 800 and 1000 dispensaries.   The city of Oakland has only a handful, but these are taxed by the city.  Local and state officials are still trying to figure out how to regulate them.

    At the moment, marijuana has attained a kind of de facto legality.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/us/18enforce.html?pagewanted=1&tntemail1=y&_r=1&emc=tnt

KELLER, ET AL, "EFFICACY OF PAROXETINE"

Submitted by Jerome L. Himmelstein on Monday, 10/19/2009, at 12:20 PM

For those of you who want to examine more closely the Keller article on Paroxetine discussed in Bass, I have found the following link to a draft:

 

http://www.healthyskepticism.org/documents/documents/19990322draftIII.pdf

"How Marijuana became legal

Submitted by Jerome L. Himmelstein on Thursday, 9/17/2009, at 2:28 PM

Here is a link to "How marijuana became legal," by Roger Parloff, senior editor at "Fortune."  I discussed this article briefly in class on September 17.   It raises issues relevant to both sections of the course.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/11/magazines/fortune/medical_marijuana_legalizing.fortune/index.htm

Tags:  medical marijuana