freethefly 6 #1 April 19, 2007 This is a great event that will ultimately lead to medical mj becoming legal for the millions of people who will benefit from it. Medical mj has been proven to be a great benefit for AIDS patients. Our government is criminal to withhold a medication that holds so much promise for so many people inflicted with life threatening illness. It is out of ignorance or predjudice that some Americans wish to keep patients in pain or wasting away when the safest drug ever known should be readily available. If you are not onboard for helping people in need then you are the problem and are partially responsible for their ultimate death. There may come a day when you too may need this herb. ASA Co-Sponsors Largest HIV/AIDS Lobby Day On April 23-25, 2007 Americans for Safe Access (ASA) will co-sponsor the largest annual HIV/AIDS constituent-based federal advocacy and education event in the US – an event which marks a major expansion in the national health care coalition advocating for medical cannabis therapies and research. Hundreds of HIV/AIDS patients and their supporters will visit Congressional offices on Capitol Hill to talk with Representatives about increased federal support and appropriations for domestic and global HIV/AIDS prevention, research, housing, and – for the first time – medical cannabis! ASA Participates in Largest HIV/AIDS Advocacy Event Organized by our partners, the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA), AIDS Watch is the largest annual AIDS-related advocacy event in the United States. ASA staff will be providing a three-hour workshop during the AIDSWatch training day and will distribute up-to-date printed materials to prepare AIDS Watch participants to lobby their Congressional Representatives on medical cannabis issues. ASA believes that by forging new relationships with public health and condition based organizations like NAPWA and by working together on common goals, we can overcome government stonewalling and create long term solutions that provide safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. AIDS Watch is a flash point in ASA’s federal advocacy campaign, but we are working in Washington, DC, every day to create safe and legal access to medical cannabis nationwide. Our efforts to implement and adopt compassionate legislation in the states are hampered by outdated and unscientific federal policies. Safe access in communities ultimately depends on changing federal law. Building a Coalition: ASA's Partnership with NAPWA We are particularly excited about our work with NAPWA because they are the oldest national AIDS organization in the United States and the oldest national network of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. Our partnership with NAPWA began when ASA presented two workshops at their twelfth annual Staying Alive Access Matters Summit – a medical education symposium focusing on access to HIV medications, medical care, support, HIV education and AIDS prevention. Our exhibition display and workshops were well received by the conference attendees – consistent with current data that indicates over 37 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS report using medical Cannabis as a part of their HIV treatment regimen. NAPWA decided to formally partner with ASA in 2007 following a series of meetings between our staffs and Directors. That partnership was further enhanced when NAPWA’s Development Director, Tom Kujawski, agreed to join ASA’s Board of Directors! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit the AIDSWatch page for more information about AIDSWatch. Visit www.NAPWA.org to find out about our partners at NAPWA. http://americansforsafeaccess.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neuropathy is one of the benefits of AIDS medication. It is painfull, believe me. If you don't, eat AIDS meds for a year or two and then come talk to me. A couple of tokes of hi quality mj takes the pain nearly completely away. It is high time to reclassify mj as a schedule 2 or 3 drug and remove it from the schedule 1 list as it has been proven time and time again to be a benefit to the humanrace. Inhaled Cannabis Significantly Reduces HIV-Associated Neuropathy February 12, 2007 - San Francisco, CA, USA San Francisco, CA: Cannabis significantly reduces HIV-associated neuropathic pain compared to placebo, and possesses an acceptable margin of safety for use, according to clinical trial data to be published in the journal Neurology. Investigators at San Francisco General Hospital and the University of California's Pain Clinical Research Center assessed the efficacy of inhaled cannabis on HIV-associated sensory neuropathy in 50 volunteers participating in a five-day double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Researchers reported that smoking low-grade cannabis (3.56 percent THC) three times daily reduced patients' pain by 34 percent. "Thirteen of 25 patients randomized to cannabis cigarettes had >30 percent reduction in pain from baseline to end of treatment versus 6 of 25 patients receiving placebo cigarettes," authors wrote. A 30 percent reduction in pain is considered to be a clinically significant amount of pain relief. Investigators added: "Smoking the first cannabis cigarette reduced chronic pain ratings by a median of 72 percent versus a reduction of 15 percent with placebo [zero THC] cigarettes. On day five, just prior to smoking the last cigarette, median ratings of current chronic pain intensity were lower in the cannabis group than in the placebo group. Smoking the last cigarette further reduced chronic pain ratings 51 percent in the cannabis group versus five percent in the placebo group." They concluded: "Smoked cannabis was well tolerated and effectively relieved chronic neuropathic pain from HIV-associated neuropathy [in a manner] similar to oral drugs used for chronic neuropathic pain." The lead investigator of the study, Donald Abrams of San Francisco General Hospital, initially sought federal approval to assess the potential medical efficacy of cannabis in HIV patients in 1994, but was repeatedly denied access to the US government¹s supply of research-grade marijuana. Today's study is one of the first US-led clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of smoked cannabis to take place in nearly two decades. The University of California's Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research sponsored the trial. Previous clinical trials assessing the use of cannabinoids as analgesics have demonstrated that they can significantly reduce the neuropathy associated with multiple sclerosis, diabetes, cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis. Neuropathic pain affects an estimated one percent of the world's population and is typically unresponsive to both opioids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen. http://www.norml.org/"...And once you're gone, you can't come back When you're out of the blue and into the black." Neil Young Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
