Change the Stance

A new study published in the the American Public Journal of Health claims that legalizing medical marijuana can reduce suicide rates by five percent among the general population and by as much as 10 percent among young male population.

From PBS:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/...ic-fatalities/

"Contrary to the claims of outdated anti-marijuana PSA’s, a new study published in the the American Public Journal of Health claims that legalizing medical marijuana can reduce suicide rates by five percent among the general population and by as much as 10 percent among young male population.

The study, co-written by professors from Montana State, San Diego State, and the University of Colorado at Denver, analyzed 17 years worth of statistics in search of shifts in suicide rates per 10,000 people in states where medical marijuana was legal from 1990 to 2007. Using the statistics of states in which marijuana is still illegal as the control group, the study’s authors concluded that in states with legal medical marijuana, the suicide rate for males aged 20-29 decreased 10.9 percent, and for men aged 30-39 they saw a decrease of 9.4 percent.

The study stated that estimates for females were less precise and thus required further study.

The researchers explained that, “opponents of legalizing medical marijuana point to the large number of studies showing that marijuana use is positively associated with depression, the onset of panic attacks, psychosis, schizophrenia, and suicidal ideation.”

“However,” they continued, “the association between marijuana use and outcomes such as these could be attributable to dif?cult-to-measure (extraneous variables,) such as personality.”

While the conclusion stated, “The negative relationship between legalization and suicides among young men is consistent with the hypothesis that marijuana can be used to cope with stressful life events,” the researchers noted that some men in stressful situations may also use alcohol as a coping mechanism and that the topic should be further studied.

The study is particularly interesting when looked at in conjunction with author Dr. Daniel I. Rees’ May 2013 study, published by the University of Chicago Press, which concluded that traffic fatalities decrease between eight and 11 percent in states where marijuana is legal, the first year after legalization.” It also stated that total beer consumption dropped five percent post-legalization and that traffic fatalities in which at least one driver had a positive blood alcohol content level lessened by 13.2 percent."

Florida Health Officials reported there are 1.6 MILLION Floridians that would be eligible for treatment using medical cannabis. That is acknowledgement of medical value, the numbers are taken from those with diseases that are clearly documented to benefit from medical cannabis. That means those people tried everything else and found more relief and benefit from cannabis than standard treatment. Why would we deny this for Floridians?

Science has discovered the endocannabinoid system. As Raphael Mechoulem, the man who originally discovered THC in 1964 and has been studying cannabis ever since, whose team discovered the endocannabinoid system in 1987, states, "There is barely a biological or physiological system in our bodies in which the endocannabinoids do not participate".

The ECS (endocannabinoid system) is a modulator of physiological functions in the central nervous system, in the autonomic nervous system, the endocrine network, the immune system, the gastrointestinal tract, the reproductive system, in microcirculation, and the cytokine network, which is the source of inflammation, the cause of nearly if not all disease. Just as diabetics do not produce enough insulin some people don't produce enough endocannabinoids. The cannbinoids in cannabis are so close to our own that they work the same.

Speaking about raw cannabis juiced, researcher Dr William L. Courtney states, "It (cannabis) has captures these molecules that help our bodies regulatory system be more effective. The bottom line is it's a dietary essential that helps all 210 cell types function more effectively. I don't even refer to it as medicine anymore, strictly as a dietary essential."

Thousands of deaths each year in the U.S. are caused by MRSA. A recent study shows hemp fabric stops the spread of Staph and MRSA. In light of that, with the Staph and MRSA epidemic in most U.S. Hospitals wouldn't it be wise to use hemp fabric for all hospital bedding, towels, clothing and curtains? Isn't saving lives and ending MRSA worth changing the policy?

No one should have a gun in their face from law enforcement, be arrested, humiliated, degraded or treated as a subculture for their choice of medicine and/or health needs.

Recently I was asked, "If you only had 3 pieces of "empirical scientific data" to present in favor of de-scheduling cannabis off the Controlled Substances Act, which would they be?!
My Answer:
THE ENDOCANNABINOID SYSTEM: PHYSIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY
http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/content/40/1/2.long

Role of the endocannabinoid system in food intake, energy homeostasis and regulation of the endocrine pancreas.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21055418

Antineoplastic and apoptotic effects of cannabinoids. N-acylethanolamines: protectors or killers?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18438336