Former CIA Director Jim Woolsey is scheduled to address a meeting today at the Canadian Consulate in Denver. But he won't speak about terrorism. Woolsey, who has served under former President Clinton and has been an adviser to President Bush, will hold court via telephone on another of his favorite topics: industrial hemp.

Commercial farming of hemp is banned in the United States for its apparent similarities to marijuana - a charge repudiated by hemp supporters. Developed regions such as Europe and Canada allow farmers to grow hemp for industrial purposes such as ropes or fabrics. The Canadian consulate in Denver supports the move to lift the ban.

Woolsey says hemp, if allowed in the U.S., could become a low-water-consuming and easy- to-grow feedstock for biofuels. Also, because of its biological properties, hemp could inhibit the growth of illegal marijuana through cross-pollination.

"Historically, the Drug Enforcement Administration has interpreted hemp to be in the marijuana band so as to include a ban on it," Woolsey said Monday during a phone interview with the Rocky. "In fact, what that is doing is undermining the single most effective way to cause trouble for marijuana."

"Hemp is so valuable, the last time I looked, it was many times more than the price of wheat and has industrial uses so substantial," added Woolsey, a self-described conservative Democrat who also serves on the board of the North American Industrial Hemp Council. "If you harvested hemp, you could use part of the plant for industrial purposes and the rest of the plant for cellulosic feed- stock for some type of biofuels."

Today's meeting is expected to draw about three dozen supporters of industrial hemp, including farmers and representatives from Colorado legislators. Most farmers' lobbies, including those in Colorado, support lifting the ban on industrial hemp. They hope to pass a resolution in the current legislative session, said Mike Bowman, chairman of the Colorado Industrial Hemp Initiative.

A pending bill in Congress, if approved, would give rights to states to regulate industrial hemp.

Source: The Rocky Mountain News

Copyright: 2008, Rocky Mountain News

Cannabis-derived medicines may one day be used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease which affects 417,000 people in the UK. Professor Raphael Mechoulam of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, will present new findings to a group of international experts at a Cannabinoids Medicines Symposium to be held at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) in London on Monday, 10 March. The research, still at an early stage, indicates that memory loss, the main symptom of Alzheimer's, can be slowed down significantly in mice by some of the chemicals present in cannabis. The next step will be to initiate human trials to see if the same effect can be achieved on the human brain.

The research is promising for the millions of suffers of the disease and their carers. Alzheimer's disease is the commonest form of dementia, which affects an estimated 24.3 million people worldwide.

It is ten years since the RPSGB launched its protocols to demonstrate the therapeutic effectiveness of cannabis. These protocols led to the Government funded UK trials that looked at the medicinal benefits of cannabis for patients with multiple sclerosis and in the treatment of severe pain. Cannabis-derived medicines have subsequently entered the market and are currently available to patients in Canada.

Professor Tony Moffat, who is chairing the Symposium on Monday said: "We have come a long way in 10 years and there is still a lot of research ground to cover. There is currently considerable interest in the medical benefits of cannabis and related compounds for a range of conditions including arthritis, multiple sclerosis and neurological pain. Although recent press coverage has focused on the abuses associated with the plant, cannabis-derived medications may offer novel opportunities in drug discovery."

About Professor Mechoulam's research

The research was conducted by Professor Raphael Mechoulam of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and a team led by Dr Maria de Ceballos, Cajal Institute, Madrid. In the studies, mice were injected directly into the brain with a molecule found in the human brain of patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease, which is known to be responsible for memory loss.

These animals were then treated over a week with cannabidiol. The animals were then assessed as to their learning ability measured by the time needed for them to find a hidden platform in a maze. Mice injected with cannabidiol found the platform within 25-30 seconds, compared to 45-55 seconds of those in a control group who had not been treated with cannabidiol.

UK statistics on Alzheimer's disease

• Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia
• The disease affects around 417,000 people in the UK

Worldwide Statistics on dementia

• Approximately 24.3 million people suffer with dementia
• 4.6 million new cases of dementia are reported every year which equates to one new case every 7 seconds
• The number of people affected with dementia will double every 20 years to 81.1 million by 2040

About Alzheimer's

People in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease may experience lapses of memory and have problems finding the right words. As the disease progresses they may:

• Become confused, and frequently forget the names of people, places, appointments and recent events
• Experience mood swings. They may feel sad or angry. They may feel scared and frustrated by their increasing memory loss
• Become more withdrawn due either to a loss of confidence or to communication Problems

About the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB)

The RPSGB is the professional and regulatory body for pharmacists in England, Scotland and Wales. It also regulates pharmacy technicians on a voluntary basis, which is expected to become statutory under anticipated legislation. The primary objectives of the Society are to lead, regulate, develop and represent the profession of pharmacy.

Source: Medical News Today

Copyright: 2008, Medical News Today

It's difficult for me not to be a bit flamboyant about this but as Oregon's number one leading marijuana doctor with more than 4,000 patients, I do feel exuberant about it.

The Oregon Department of Human Services estimated that only about 500 patients would be eligible for the marijuana permits. (they are not prescriptions) If I remember correctly in the first year we registered 1000 marijuana patients and about 500 were mine. This was my only practice as I have a spinal cord injury which prevents me from running around a regular office.

The DHS State Medical Board, the powers that be (idiots!) couldn't figure out where all these patients were coming from but subsequent investigations by the U.S. government estimated that Oregon had about 300,000 regular users. Most are self-treating for a variety of medical conditions.

It has been nine years since medical marijuana was legalized and as of January 1st 2008 we have NOW 16,000 medical permit holders with 7.700 caregiver and growers and 1,700 more pending issuance permit cards.

Many physicians were totally paranoid about signing applications for this "devil weed" which the U.S. government said was "highly addicting and dangerous." (they watched their own movie, "Reefer Madness" which is so absurd even high school kids laugh at it).

Marijuana is less dangerous and less addicting than Starbucks lattes. The worst adverse side effect from a high dose of the pure medicinal agent hashish is maybe sleeping for 24 hours although the pure synthetic THC as prescription Marinol causes severe panic attacks in many people and they avoid it and often use the natural plant instead.

There are many disbelievers that marijuana is truly a good medicine through its been used beneficially for at least 5,000 years and never killed anyone. Frequent writers to the Oregonian decry the legalization of medical marijuana and cite disproved U.S. government propaganda.

The procedure to get an Oregon permit is very strict and now 2,782 doctors have signed applications. If anyone thinks patients are faking symptoms and duping doctors and the system they are deluded by using too much narcotics or anti-depressants. Both are far more dangerous than marijuana.