Cannitrol – Cannabis Control Agent

Marijuana news from around the world

Gonzales v. Raich

Medical Marijuana Industry News July 20, 2012

dark knight risesDark Knight Rises Actor Morgan Freeman Rails Against Marijuana Criminalization… Later tonight (unless you could not help yourself and already went to a 12:01 screening) excited moviegoers will be out in force to see one of the biggest movies of the year, and maybe since Heath Ledger’s joker captivated the world in 2008.  The Dark …continue reading

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Medicating with Cannabis gets Patient Kicked out of Hospital

UCSF medical center

Western medicine has been very rigid in its approach toward treating patients, leaving little room for alternative ideas.  Accepted medical techniques are bound to the law in America so alternative approaches are often illegal.  This week a highly publicized example of the battle between stubborn “accepted practices” vs. alternative methods found its way into the news.

Angel Raich is a widely recognized marijuana advocate who has fought tirelessly over the years for marijuana reform (click here for info on the U.S. Supreme Court Case Gonzales v. Raich)   She has suffered debilitating issues since 1995 and most recently has developed an inoperable brain tumor.  She attempted to vaporize marijuana while at the UCSF Medical Center and was forced to leave the hospital. Angel Raich has claimed that her quality of life has improved drastically with marijuana use and that she would have been wheelchair bound for the last 17 years without it.  Her physician Frank Lucido M.D. has said that “Angel has no reasonable legal alternative to cannabis for the effective treatment or alleviation of her medical conditions…Angel will suffer imminent harm without access to cannabis.  Angel needs to medicate every two waking hours. After a certain number of medications have been tried, it would be malpractice to subject the patient to further unnecessary harm.”

We do not recommend that anyone violate the laws of a hospital, but we do understand that patients can be left without much choice.  As her physician has previously stated, Angel Raich’s life is threatened constantly by excruciating pain if she is unable to medicate with cannabis.  Ms. Raich is not a teenager trying to get exposure, she is a trailblazer trying to make her days tolerable.   We also understand that hospitals must be concerned with smoke of any kind, but perhaps they will consider an alternative to turning their backs on sick patients.

The UCSF medical center released the following statement:

“UCSF is a smoke-free campus and this includes medical marijuana. Several members of the media have asked if UCSF allows the use of a vaporized form of marijuana. It does not. Even a vaporized form of medical marijuana releases particles in the air that are damaging to the lung. Any particles from vapor and odor could have an impact on other patients and hospital employees.

Under federal and state law, a physician is at legal risk related to any activity that could be construed as prescribing medical marijuana to a patient.”

At some point we hope to see a medical facility that will challenge federal guidelines and place more emphasis on relief rather than worrying about the legal backlash for permitting patients to medicate with marijuana.  As Angel Raich struggles, we hope her story will highlight the obstacles that many patients face.  In all facets of life, established ideas rarely die without kicking and screaming but there is room for more than one idea.  Medical marijuana does not have to be at odds with traditional medical treatments, rather it can work simultaneously with established treatments.

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