Below is an email I received asking for any possible help I could give to help bring Cannabis to these poor patients. So, in the spirit of openess, here it is:

Hi,

My name is Ben Leer, and I work at the Tardive Dyskinesia Center (tardivedyskinesia.com). I was searching through a number of disease treatment sites when I came across your website, and was very impressed by the information you have listed. We provide educational information on tardive dyskinesia, a movement disorder caused by the medication Reglan.  Currently scientific evidence has indicated that marijuana (cannabis) has great potential to help patients manage symptoms.

Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) is a result of damage to the bodily systems that process dopamine, and is typically caused by exposure to certain neurological medications – including Reglan. The symptoms of TD, which are irreversible and incurable, mimic those of Parkinson’s disease. Tardive Dyskinesia victims suffer from involuntary, repetitive movements which often continue after the drug is no longer used. some patients do report that their use of marijuana relieves their symptoms. We feature the most up-to-date information on TD, its causes and all known treatment options. Additionally, we distribute free support books and informational packets to our users.

The best treatment is prevention; right now we are in the midst of a public outreach, attempting to educate families on the dangers of Reglan. Some studies have shown cannabis to be useful in helping patients manage the symptoms of tardive dyskinesia.  I noticed you already have some other cannabis resources listed on your resources page at greenbridgemed.com/educational-links/ and thought you might be willing to include our organization as well. I’m available by e-mail at bleer(@)tardivedyskinesia.com. With your help, we can educate the public about the dangers of Reglan.  Thanks again!

Best Regards,

Benjamin Leer

800-584-6601

National Awareness Coordinator

Tardive Dyskinesia Center

Last week a dispensary was closed in Los Angeles. The stated reason being that the cannabis was contaminated with various pesticides. Is there reason to be concerned – sure there is. Although almost all foods we ingest do contain similar contaminants, Cannabis as a medicine should be held to higher standards.

Here is the rub. I have visited the several “underground” cannabis dispensaries in California. They all operate very inefficiently as they are not certain if they have the legal right to exist. Whether it is city/state/federally based, if we are to held to reasonable standards, we must be able to openly and fully legally test the product.

Any individual dispensary will find it clumsy and very expensive to test the Cannabis delivered to them, although this could be affordable  if each strain is purchased in minimum 1 pound increments, the cost is affordable. Clearly it would make much more sense for all sellers to test their Cannabis and receive certificates with test results. Of course there are lots of details to work out, but it must be done.

Again, if we are now being held to these new standards, we must be allowed to legally perform these tests.

I have had the good fortune this past year to see a number of Multiple Sclerosis patients. The two primary symptoms of MS that Cannabis helps are “neuritic pain” and spasticity. In particular, these patients do extremely well with a Sativa Tincture. Several of my patients only need to use the tincture a couple of times/day. The tinctures they use do not get them stoned in any way. Their functional level and comfort level greatly improve.

Marijuana was first federally prohibited in 1937. Today, more than 83 million Americans admit to having tried it.

Sources: Marihuana Tax Act of 1937; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Summary of Findings from the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (Rockville, MD: Department of Health and Human Services, 2002), Table H.1, from the web at http:://www.samhsa.gov/oas/NHSDA/2k1NHSDA/vol2/appendixh_1.htm, last accessed Sept. 16, 2002.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Dr. Frankel Discusses Tinctures

Watch CBS News Videos Online

I have written to you before about the continuing debate by the Los Angeles
City Counsel over cannabis dispensaries in Los Angeles. Just before the
Thanksgiving holiday, the council had a meeting and debated regulations that
would have essentially shut down all dispensaries within the city. I
personally doubt that the steps taken by the city counsel will be draconian,
but I really don¹t know. None of us know. Therefore I believe the more
certain we can be, the better.

As things are now, you have the ability to grow cannabis if you are a
medical patient under the Compassionate Use Act as well as possessing up to
8 oz. We are all aware though that this is still not clear to the legal
system and patients are being hassled all the time.

Until cannabis is legal, your ability to obtain or grow medicine remains
threatened. In addition, research to create better medicines, such as
tinctures, is impossible because samples of cannabis cannot be possessed.
Fortunately, there is now an opportunity to fix this problem. A group of
cannabis entrepreneurs joined together to hire focus groups and conduct
field polls, discovering that 59% of Californians are ready to make change
and legitimize cannabis by taxing and regulating it. The result of their
investment is the Tax Cannabis 2010 initiative. It does NOT legalize
cannabis, however, it guarantees immunity for all adults over the age of 21
to possess up to 1 oz. This initiative will offer cities the opportunity to
allow the sale and distribution of cannabis in their local jurisdictions
according to what they are willing to accept in their communities.

Passage of this initiative will not affect your medical marijuana rights, it
will simply clarify once and for all to the authorities that you are able to
legally possess and grow cannabis.

The campaign is gaining momentum and I endorse their efforts. Already
almost 600,000 signatures have been gathered to put the Tax Cannabis 2010
initiative on the ballot. There has been a flurry of media attention from
the New York Times, to CNN and the Los Angeles Times. Now the campaign
needs your help to get this initiative passed.

Please visit the tax cannabis website and show your support at:

https://secure.taxcannabis.org/page/contribute/MRN1940

By Josh Richman
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 10/17/2009 02:30:48 PM PDT
Updated: 10/17/2009 02:30:55 PM PDT

Oakland International Airport may be the nation’s only airport with a specific policy letting users of medical marijuana travel with the drug.

The policy is spelled out in a three-page document quietly enacted last year by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. It states that if deputies determine someone is a qualified patient or primary caregiver as defined by California law and has eight ounces or less of the drug, he or she can keep it and board the plane.

Deputies warn the pot-carrying passengers that they may be committing a felony upon arrival when they set foot in a jurisdiction where medical marijuana is not recognized. But they say they don’t call ahead to alert authorities on the other end.

“We never have. We’re certainly within our right to, but we never have,” said Sgt. J.D. Nelson, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office. “Our notification of the passengers is for their own safety and well-being.”

California voters approved medical marijuana use in 1996, while federal law still bans all possession and use.

But Oakland attorney Robert Raich notes the Code of Federal Regulations says a prohibition on operating a civil aircraft with knowledge that there is marijuana aboard doesn’t apply to carrying marijuana that’s “authorized by or under any Federal or State statute.”

The federal Transportation Security Administration does the screening and when marijuana — or any suspected contraband — is found, the
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sheriff’s deputies are summoned.

Low profile

Oakland’s airport policy was enacted in February 2008, but Raich said he didn’t want to publicize it until recently lest the Bush administration change federal regulations, or lest it become an issue in Obama administration drug officials’ confirmation hearings.

“All other airports in medical cannabis states should have similar policies but they don’t,” he said, adding that he hears San Francisco International and Los Angeles International airports are relatively kind to medical marijuana users while airports in Burbank, Ontario and San Diego are not….