Kids And Cannabis - Third Monk

Sep 14, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Drug War Shows No Remorse For Innocent Baby Injured During Botched Raid

Earlier this year in May 2014, a baby was placed in critical condition after police tossed a flash grenade into his playpen during a fumbled drug raid.

Five months later, Habersham County officials say they do not plan to pay for the medical expenses of the toddler seriously injured during a police raid.

Bounkham Phonesavah, affectionately known as “Baby Boo Boo,” spent weeks in a burn unit after a SWAT team’s flash grenade exploded near his face.

The toddler was just 19-months-old and asleep in the early morning hours of May 28. SWAT officers threw the device into his home while executing a search warrant for a drug suspect.

Habersham County officials are defending their decision not to pay, but the child’s family isn’t giving up.

The Letter of the Law Is Broken

After weeks of recovery at two different hospitals, Channel 2 Action News was there in July as the little boy walked out of a hospital with his family.

He is doing better, but late Friday afternoon, his family’s attorney told said the family’s medical bills are mounting.

“But at this point, the county is refusing to pay,” said attorney Muwali Davis.

Habersham County’s attorney provided the following statement, saying:

The question before the board was whether it is legally permitted to pay these expenses. After consideration of this question following advice of counsel, the board of commissioners has concluded that it would be in violation of the law for it to do so.

Latest reports indicate that the raid was influenced by faulty information. The obvious needs to be stated here.

If there’s a law that prevents a local government from reimbursing a family to heal a child nearly killed by the negligence and ineptitude of local law enforcement officers, then that law needs to be changed.

> The drug war means never having to say you’re sorry | Washington Post

Jul 6, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Cannabis Research in America is a Distorted Picture – Dr. Sanjay Gupta (Video)

High officials in the US government are asking for more research to be done on medical cannabis without mentioning that their own restrictions are misguided obstacles.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta witnessed the medicinal value of cannabis himself when he traveled to countries that fully supported marijuana research.

Mar 27, 2014Jan 24, 2018

Cannabis Madness – Patients Vs Politicians (Video)

CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta investigates the politics of cannabis in Weed 2: Cannabis Madness.

Gupta takes a look at U.S. federal laws that consider marijuana a drug with no medicinal value and serious scientists who say they’re wrong. It is the politics of cannabis – the politicians vs. the patients.

This is Gupta’s second CNN Special on cannabis, showing the clear proven medical benefits of high CBD marijuana and why marijuana should not be classified as a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance by the U.S. Government.

History books may one day draw a parallel between this chapter of medical marijuana and the story of David and Goliath. Playing the role of David’s slingshot, which ultimately brought Goliath to his knees, would be a 2-year-old girl named Vivian Wilson.

She inspired her father to challenge the system in a spectacular way that caused a nation to stop for a moment and take note. – Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Doubling Down on Medical Marijuana

Mar 9, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Our Government Holds a Patent for Medical Cannabis, Why is it Illegal? – Dr. Gupta

It’s been eight months since I last wrote about medical marijuana, apologizing for having not dug deeply into the beneficial effects of this plant and for writing articles dismissing its potential.

I apologized for my own role in previously misleading people, and I feel very badly that people have suffered for too long, unable to obtain the legitimate medicine that may have helped them.

There is emerging science that not only shows and proves what marijuana can do for the body but provides better insights into the mechanisms of marijuana in the brain, helping us better understand a plant whose benefits have been documented for thousands of years. This journey is also about a Draconian system where politics override science and patients are caught in the middle.

The Undeniable Medical Value of Cannabis

Since our documentary “Weed” aired in August 2013, I have continued to travel the world, investigating and asking tough questions about marijuana.

I have met with hundreds of patients, dozens of scientists and the curious majority who simply want a deeper understanding of this ancient plant. I have sat in labs and personally analyzed the molecules in marijuana that have such potential but are also a source of intense controversy.

I have seen those molecules turned into medicine that has quelled epilepsy in a child and pain in a grown adult. I’ve seen it help a woman at the peak of her life to overcome the ravages of multiple sclerosis.

I am not backing down on medical marijuana; I am doubling down.

I should add that, although I’ve taken some heat for my reporting on marijuana, it hasn’t been as lonely a position as I expected. Legislators from several states have reached out to me, eager to inform their own positions and asking to show the documentary to their fellow lawmakers.

One place where lawmakers saw a long clip was Georgia, where the state House just passed a medical marijuana bill by a vote of 171-4. Before the legislative session started, most people didn’t think this bill had a chance.

Federal Hypocrites

Along the way, the public has become intensely engaged. Our collective society has paid closer attention to this issue than ever before, and with that increased education, support for medical marijuana has only grown, including in some unexpected places.

Pete Carroll, the coach of the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks, said the NFL should explore medical marijuana if it helps players. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hasn’t dismissed the idea, saying that if marijuana is reconsidered by the medical establishment, the league would treat it the same as any other medicine. Goodell also says the NFL is following the science that suggests marijuana may help recovery from concussions.

Recently, I had the chance to tell him that the United States already holds a patent on medical marijuana for that very purpose. Patent No. 6630507: Cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke or trauma.

However, this particular issue still bothers me: How can the government deny the benefits of medical marijuana even as it holds a patent for those very same benefits? Members of the Food and Drug Administration declined my repeated requests for an interview.

Weed Vs Government Approved Drugs

This past year, President Barack Obama told the New Yorker magazine, “I don’t think (marijuana) is more dangerous than alcohol.” And yet, as alcohol remains available to any adult, the president has not moved to remove marijuana from the list of the most tightly controlled substances in the country.

Since I started my reporting on this topic, I have mostly resisted temptation to inject a subjective moral equivalency into this discussion, such as pitting alcohol against marijuana or reminding you that cocaine and methamphetamine are actually more available than marijuana to patients, physicians and medical researchers: They are Schedule II drugs, with recognized medical uses. Or telling you that on average, a person dies every 19 minutes in this country from a legal prescription drug overdose, while it is virtually unheard-of to die from a marijuana overdose.

> Dr. Gupta: ‘I am doubling down’ on medical marijuana | CNN

Feb 13, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Medical Marijuana For Kids Instead of Harsh Treatments (Video)

Medical marijuana for kids is a touchy subject at the moment because of cannabis’ history as a schedule 1 drug.

Many people are still informing themselves on the topic but those that are experiencing the wonder first hand know that medical marijuana is a viable alternative to harsh treatments.

The evidence speaks for itself and it will only be a matter of time until science echoes what we already know. These Medical Marijuana success stories are now being covered by mainstream media. and although many doctors don’t agree with the treatment some have made a full 180 on the subject like Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Reduction of Seizures From Using Medical Cannabis

Kyung Lah (CNN) reports on a 6-year-old epilepsy patient who has been suffering fewer seizures since taking medical marijuana.

7 Year Old Girl Uses Medical Marijuana to Treat Cancer

A little girl with a rare form of cancer in Oregon uses medical marijuana as part of her treatment.

Medical Marijuana Used To Treat Autism In Children

Parents decide to use cannabis to treat their autistic son.

Dec 10, 2013Jun 17, 2016

Children of Cannabis – Getting Stoned and Fighting Sickness (Video)

Medical cannabis is legal in 20 states and the District of Columbia, but there are still use cases that are very controversial, like medical marijuana for children.

Some claim it’s a wonder drug for epilepsy, severe autism, and even to quell the harsh side effects of chemotherapy, while others decry pumping cannabis into still-growing bodies.

We went to the small town of Pendleton, Oregon, where medical marijuana is legal, to visit Mykayla Comstock, an eight-year-old leukemia patient who takes massive amounts of weed to treat her illness.

Her family, and many people we met along the way, believe not only in the palliative aspects of the drug, but also in cannabis’ curative effect—that cannabis can literally shrink tumors. – Vice Weediquette

Nov 27, 2013Jun 17, 2016

Mom Saves Her Son From Cancer by Choosing Cannabis Over Chemotherapy (Video)

Under doctors’ orders, 3-year-old Landon Riddle began treatment for his leukemia: aggressive chemotherapy and radiation. But while still living in Utah, Sierra Riddle watched her little boy become violently ill from the chemotherapy.

Landon suffered nerve-damage in his legs, nausea that led to vomiting dozens of times a day, intense pain and at one point went 25 days without eating following the chemo treatment, according to CNN.

“Around the clock, he was usually on liquid morphine, Ativan, Promethexane,” Sierra told CNN.

“And it just really didn’t seem to be helping.”

Feeling like her family “didn’t have anything left to lose” she looked into medical marijuana treatment. She moved her family to Colorado Springs, Colo. to benefit from the state’s marijuana laws and started to give Landon liquid forms of both Cannabidiol, or CBD, and Tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC.

“Within four weeks we could see the improvement,” Sierra told KRDO, a local news affiliate

Sierra swapped chemotherapy for cannabis therapy and has seen her son return to his old energetic self as his cancer has gone into remission.

Doctor Threatens Mother for Choosing Cannabis Over Chemo

Sierra Riddle’s decision to use medical marijuana as treatment for her son’s cancer has raised some eyebrows in the traditional medical community — so much so, that one Colorado doctor reported Sierra to Human Services for refusing chemotherapy for Landon.

Aug 12, 2013Jun 17, 2016

Dr. Sanjay Gupta Admits He Was Wrong About Weed (Video)

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, has publicly apologized for his part in misleading the public about the negative effects of Cannabis. Gupta’s admission that he had not done the proper research before condemning the drug, creates a path for others to do the same.

As Cannabis legalization gains momentum, this sort of back-peddling may become the norm. Those who claimed Cannabis is harmful will have to either feign ignorance as Gupta has or simply fade from public thought. Their dated opinions holding no weight in the face of an informed public.

In his op-ed “Why I changed my mind on weed”, Gupta explains his initial opposition and subsequent change of heart:

Long before I began this project, I had steadily reviewed the scientific literature on medical marijuana from the United States and thought it was fairly unimpressive. Reading these papers five years ago, it was hard to make a case for medicinal marijuana. I even wrote about this in a TIME magazine article, back in 2009, titled “Why I would Vote No on Pot.

“Well, I am here to apologize. I mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency listed marijuana as a schedule 1 substance because of sound scientific proof. Surely, they must have quality reasoning as to why marijuana is in the category of the most dangerous drugs that have “no accepted medicinal use and a high potential for abuse.

“They didn’t have the science to support that claim, and I now know that when it comes to marijuana neither of those things are true. It doesn’t have a high potential for abuse, and there are very legitimate medical applications. In fact, sometimes marijuana is the only thing that works.

Claiming Marijuana Can Be Safer Than Narcotics — Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN

I Was Wrong About Weed — Dr. Sanjay Gupta on The Young Turks

They get in narcotics, on morphine, Oxycontin, Dilaudid. These types of medications don’t work, maybe at all, but certainly not after a few months. People can develop tolerance to them. And you come to find that marijuana in a percentage of patients, not only does it work better than these narcotics, it’s much safer. — Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Dr Sanjay Gupta’s CNN Documentary Special “WEED”

Jul 29, 2012Jun 17, 2016

Father Uses Medical Marijuana To Fight Son’s Brain Cancer (Video)

A family’s two-year old son, Cash was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The chemo treatment jacked up his body, preventing him for eating any solid food for 40 days. Cash’s dad decided to turn to medical marijuana by secretly giving him cannabis oil to increase his appetite. The increasing number of positive medical marijuana cases can no longer be ignored, watch the clip for the full story.

Tag: Kids And Cannabis