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In 1996, California passed a bill that authorized the use of medical marijuana to treat serious illnesses such as cancer and AIDS as well as “any other illness for which marijuana provides relief”. Now, some doctors are counting A.D.H.D. as an illness that falls into this category.
Medicann, a network of medical marijuana dispensaries in Oakland has treated as many as 50 patients ages 14 to 18 who are diagnosed with A.D.H.D. Some doctors claim marijuana is safer than aspirin, and therefore a much better alternative than other A.D.H.D. medications, many of which have side effects similar to amphetamines. As The New York Times reports, other experts, like Stephen Hindshaw, the chairman of the psychology department at the University of California, Berkeley, point out that marijuana tends to be linked with disruption of memory, attention, and concentration -- the very problems that A.D.H.D. medications seek to treat. Marijuana, however, does seem to greatly alleviate anxiety and anger, which often accompany the disorder.
Studies continue to support that marijuana stunts brain development in adolescents, a side effect that can offset the benefits of using marijuana to treat A.D.H.D. in young people.
(via The New York Times)
On Tuesday Oakland became the first city in the US to approve a tax increase on medical marijuana. In a mail-ballot 80 percent of the voters voted “yes” on measure F that will take affect on New Years Day. Cannabis businesses currently pay a tax of $1.20 for every $1000 in gross sale, with this new measure, the tax will increase to $18.
Oakland voters also approved Measures C, D, and H.
Read more... Oakland has taken a big hit from the recent economic crisis. Now medical marijuana dispensaries want to help ease that burden with an offer to be more highly taxed.
Bad puns aside, the proposed Measure F in Oakland would raise the taxes on medical marijuana dispensaries in Oakland from $1.20 per $1000 of revenue to $18 per $1000. The measure will be voted on in Oakland on Tuesday and was actually proposed by the marijuana dispensaries themselves. So why would the medical marijuana community want to be taxed so much higher?
“We want to form a partnership with the city,” said Salwa Ibrahim, executive assistant for Oaksterdam University. The university itself is not a medical marijuana dispensary. Instead, the institution holds classes training students to grow and even bake marijuana. Classes are open to students 18 and older and cost about $500 a semester.
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