Repeal Oregon’s Medical Marijuana Act

 

 

  For those who believe the Oregon medical marijuana program is out of control, there’s a move afoot to get it on the 2010 ballot…

Initiative #32 repeals the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act and replaces it with a state-
subsidized program providing prescriptions using cannabinoids, synthetic cannabinoids,
and cannabinoid derivatives for persons with diagnosed debilitating medical conditions
if such prescriptions are not covered by insurance.

 

The Department of Human Services shall establish program rules including

1.      independent medical exam at state’s expense if eligibility of the program
must be determined

2.      establish the standards for determining validity of participants’ application
based on a medically reasonable diagnosis and necessity of prescription
for treatment of diagnosed debilitating medical condition

3.      establish participation requirements including applicants to be legal Oregon
resident for one year prior to application  

4.      require attending physician to monitor participants’ use in same manner as
a controlled substance

5.      define “attending physician”, “controlled substance”, and “diagnosed
debilitating medical condition”, and

6.      invalidate current medical marijuana cards on March 31, 2011

Quiting Pot Smoking Not Always Easy According to Study

A study of heavy marijuana users found that about one-third reported resuming use of the drug to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms, according to researcher David Gorelick, M.D., Ph.D., of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

“Heavy pot users should be aware that they may experience a withdrawal syndrome that will make them uncomfortable when they try to quit,” he said.

WebMD reported May 7 that Gorelick said at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association that the study involving about 500 heavy, long-term marijuana users — about a quarter of whom reported smoking marijuana more than 10,000 times during their lifetime — found that 42.4 percent of those studied reported at least one symptom of withdrawal, such as cravings, irritability, boredom, anxiety, or sleep disturbances when they abstained from use.

Not all of these users, however, resumed marijuana use as a result.

Gorelick said he expects marijuana-withdrawal syndrome to be included as a psychiatric disorder in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, due in 2012.