BALTIMORE (Map, News) - The sexually transmitted virus that causes some cervical cancers can also cause cancer in the upper throat, researchers at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center report.
The human papilloma virus, more commonly known as HPV, is linked to throat cancers most often in younger, married college graduates, according to the study published in the March 12 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The connection grows stronger with larger numbers of oral sex partners and increasing marijuana use.
Other head and neck cancers are more often associated with smoking tobacco, alcohol use and poor oral hygiene, suggesting they may be a separate disease, said Dr. Maura L. Gillison, associate professor of oncology and epidemiology at Hopkins and lead researcher on the study.
“Our results indicate that HPV-positive and HPV-negative head and neck cancers have different risk-factor profiles and should be considered two distinct diseases,” Gillison said. “They just happen to occur in the same place.”
More research will need to be done to clarify the relationship to marijuana use, she said.
“It’s possible that other behaviors linked with marijuana use could be the real culprit, and our results will need to be confirmed,” she said. Chemicals in marijuana called cannabinoids could affect the immune system’s ability to fight a virus.
About 20 million Americans are currently infected with HPV, and another 6.2 million people become infected each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At least half of all sexually active men and women will have a genital HPV infection at some point in their lives.
This year, 11,070 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer in the U.S., the American Cancer Society estimates. A significant portion of cervical cancers are caused by HPV.
The good news is, patients with HPV-positive tumors tend to survive longer and are more responsive to treatment, compared with patients with HPV-negative tumors.
The American Joint Committee on Cancer is now considering incorporating HPV status in its guidelines for determining clinical stages of head and neck cancer.
Examiner
... well oral sex is against the law in the State of California anyway, so I guess WE ARE DOOMED! ;)
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Medical Marijuana: Oregon's Flaming Success
Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician, Toxicologist and Pharmacologist.
(MOLALLA, Ore.) - It's difficult for me not to be a bit flamboyant about this but as Oregon's number one leading marijuana doctor with more than 4,000 patients, I do feel exuberant about it.
The Oregon Department of Human Services estimated that only about 500 patients would be eligible for the marijuana permits. (they are not prescriptions) If I remember correctly in the first year we registered one thousand marijuana patients and about 500 were mine. This was my only practice as I have a spinal cord injury which prevents me from running around a regular office.
The DHS State Medical Board, the powers that be (idiots!) couldn't figure out where all these patients were coming from but subsequent investigations by the U.S. government estimated that Oregon had about 300 thousand regular users. Most are self-treating for a variety of medical conditions.
It has been nine years since medical marijuana was legalized and as of January 1st 2008 we have NOW 16,000 medical permit holders with 7.700 caregiver and growers and 1,700 more pending issuance permit cards.
Many physicians were totally paranoid about signing applications for this "devil weed" which the U.S. government said was "highly addicting and dangerous." (they watched their own movie, "Reefer Madness" which is so absurd even high school kids laugh at it).
Marijuana is less dangerous and less addicting than Starbucks lattes. The worst adverse side effect from a high dose of the pure medicinal agent hashish is maybe sleeping for 24 hours although the pure synthetic THC as prescription Marinol causes severe panic attacks in many people and they avoid it and often use the natural plant instead.
There are many disbelievers that marijuana is truly a good medicine through its been used beneficially for at least 5,000 years and never killed anyone. Frequent writers to the Oregonian decry the legalization of medical marijuana and cite disproved U.S. government propaganda.
The procedure to get an Oregon permit is very strict and now 2,782 doctors have signed applications. If anyone thinks patients are faking symptoms and duping doctors and the system they are deluded by using too much narcotics or anti-depressants. Both are far more dangerous than marijuana.
Salem News
(MOLALLA, Ore.) - It's difficult for me not to be a bit flamboyant about this but as Oregon's number one leading marijuana doctor with more than 4,000 patients, I do feel exuberant about it.
The Oregon Department of Human Services estimated that only about 500 patients would be eligible for the marijuana permits. (they are not prescriptions) If I remember correctly in the first year we registered one thousand marijuana patients and about 500 were mine. This was my only practice as I have a spinal cord injury which prevents me from running around a regular office.
The DHS State Medical Board, the powers that be (idiots!) couldn't figure out where all these patients were coming from but subsequent investigations by the U.S. government estimated that Oregon had about 300 thousand regular users. Most are self-treating for a variety of medical conditions.
It has been nine years since medical marijuana was legalized and as of January 1st 2008 we have NOW 16,000 medical permit holders with 7.700 caregiver and growers and 1,700 more pending issuance permit cards.
Many physicians were totally paranoid about signing applications for this "devil weed" which the U.S. government said was "highly addicting and dangerous." (they watched their own movie, "Reefer Madness" which is so absurd even high school kids laugh at it).
Marijuana is less dangerous and less addicting than Starbucks lattes. The worst adverse side effect from a high dose of the pure medicinal agent hashish is maybe sleeping for 24 hours although the pure synthetic THC as prescription Marinol causes severe panic attacks in many people and they avoid it and often use the natural plant instead.
There are many disbelievers that marijuana is truly a good medicine through its been used beneficially for at least 5,000 years and never killed anyone. Frequent writers to the Oregonian decry the legalization of medical marijuana and cite disproved U.S. government propaganda.
The procedure to get an Oregon permit is very strict and now 2,782 doctors have signed applications. If anyone thinks patients are faking symptoms and duping doctors and the system they are deluded by using too much narcotics or anti-depressants. Both are far more dangerous than marijuana.
Salem News
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
SXSW: Super High Me Smokes the First Day of Film Screenings
AUSTIN, Texas -- One of South by Southwest 2008's first film premieres opened to a packed and uproarious house of pot aficionados and comedy lovers alike.
Super High Me, spawned from a joke in comedian and star of the film Doug Benson's stand-up act, spoofs Morgan Spurlock's month-long fast food diet in Super Size Me. If you haven't guessed it already, rather than gorging on McDonald's, Benson indulges in another type of refreshment for 30 days -- marijuana.
Luckily, Benson, also a talking head on VH1's Best Week Ever (and High Times' 2006 Stoner of the Year), doesn't just blaze through the 90 minutes of film.
Though Super High Me could worm its way into the ranks of classic stoner films like Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke, Dave Chappelle's Half-Baked or even Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (if the audience's constant raucous cheering, hoots and laughter is any gauge), the film offered more substance than is standard for the genre.
Instead, Benson embarks on a surprisingly rigorous experiment, undergoing elaborate mental, physical and psychological evaluations for a 30-day period of sobriety before his pot-acular diet. Lightning-quick, effective educational blurbs animated with Reefer Madness-esque graphics punctuate the levity of the film's titular experiment, diving deep into the medical marijuana debate and those affected by it.
Trailer
Other high points of the film (see trailer) included clips of Benson's own diarylike reflections of his experiment in high-larious snippets from nightly performances, where he openly laments and cracks rapid-fire jokes about not being able to indulge in his favorite pastime.
Of course, all of this is just a prelude, an anticipation-building countdown to the meat of the movie -- the nonstop smoke-out.
Surprisingly, the movie's monumental moment -- when Benson inhales a large quantity of smoke from a clunky vaporizer -- is overshadowed by the first half of the film, which is made funnier by the abundance of commentary by fellow comedian friends like Bob Odenkirk, Brian Pohsen and Patton Oswalt (not to mention the steady stream of nostalgic jokes about getting high).
A bright spot, eliciting cheers from the entire audience (save the older woman sitting next to me who harumphed and puffed out her cheeks), came during the pre- and post-pot binge evaluation results: Benson performed better on his SATs, showed an increased sperm count and an increased psychic ability.
During the post-screening Q&A, however, Benson was quick to point out that the film doesn't exactly glorify pot. "I looked like a total idiot," Benson told an audience member who lectured him for "only showing the positive sides of pot."
"And I gained 8 pounds," Benson added.
When asked about Spurlock's response to the film (and if he was going to sue), one of the SXSW panelists piped up: "He liked the film! And promised not to sue, but wished he'd seen it." To which Benson cheerly interjected, "Well, then next I'm doing, Where the Hell Is Osama With My Weed!"
Check back later for an exclusive Q&A as Wired.com sits down with Benson from his hotel room in Austin to chat about his project, the munchies after 30 days of pot, and whether you can ever really get too high.
Super High Me will screen again Sunday, March 9, at 4:15 p.m. at the Austin Convention Center.
blog.wired
Monday, March 10, 2008
Counties file briefs against medical marijuana laws
Lawyers for San Diego and San Bernardino counties have filed new briefs in their case against state medical marijuana laws.
The documents urge the Fourth District Court of Appeal to throw out a San Diego Superior Court ruling upholding the state law that requires counties to issue identification cards to qualified medical marijuana patients.
“The county will suffer harm if it is required to comply with the pre-empted medical marijuana laws,” states the San Diego County brief, filed Friday.
State and federal officials conflict over the medical value of marijuana.
California law allows sick and dying patients to grow and smoke the drug to relieve chronic symptoms. Federal rules state that using marijuana is a crime under any circumstance.
Oral arguments in the landmark case are expected this year.
SignOnSanDiego.com <<< Go here to add your comments
The documents urge the Fourth District Court of Appeal to throw out a San Diego Superior Court ruling upholding the state law that requires counties to issue identification cards to qualified medical marijuana patients.
“The county will suffer harm if it is required to comply with the pre-empted medical marijuana laws,” states the San Diego County brief, filed Friday.
State and federal officials conflict over the medical value of marijuana.
California law allows sick and dying patients to grow and smoke the drug to relieve chronic symptoms. Federal rules state that using marijuana is a crime under any circumstance.
Oral arguments in the landmark case are expected this year.
SignOnSanDiego.com <<< Go here to add your comments
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