T
The420Guy
Guest
In July, 1997 -the first summer after the passage of California's medical
marijuana initiative- Robert Galambos, then 32, was busted by Calaveras
County sheriff's deputies and charged by the DA with cultivation of 382
marijuana plants and possession for sale. He had more than six pounds of
processed mj on hand, too. Galambos claimed to be growing for and supplying
the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Co-op (although the only product he'd ever
brought to the OCBC, according to Jeff Jones, had been rejected for mold).
When Galambos was tried in March '99, Tony Serra argued that his client
believed that growing for a club was lawful under Prop 215. Galambos also
claimed to be a medical marijuana user who has suffered headaches since
fracturing his skull in a car wreck in the late '80s; but he didn't obtain a
doctor's recommendation until after he was busted.
Galambos had been working towards a degree in child development at Columbia
College. A teacher who attended his trial told the Modesto Bee that Galambos
was "one of her best students, and had been doing exemplary work with
pre-schoolers as part of his training. 'He is thoughtful, considerate,
sensitive and intelligent,' she said. 'We need more people like him going
into child development, and if he couldn't be a teacher it would be a
tremendous loss to society.'"
Despite Serra's eloquence -it was about Galambos that he said "you can't in
essence legalize milk and outlaw the cow"- the jury voted "guilty" on the
cultivation charge. They deadlocked on possession-for-sale after a full day
of deliberations. In exchange for the DA not retrying him on
possession-for-sale, Galambos pled guilty to possession of more than an
ounce. In June '99 he was sentenced to five years probation (nine months in
jail). He has been free on bail pending appeal, which was handled by Bill
Panzer of Oakland.
On Dec. 26 the Third Appellate District court upheld Galambos's conviction.
"The ballot materials make clear that the proposition was narrowly drafted
to avoid the creation of loopholes for drug dealers," wrote Justice Daniel
Kolkey, referring to ballot arguments written by Bill Zimmerman -the
respectable "professional campaign manager" who had usurped Dennis Peron's
leadership.
Galambos is expected to appeal to the state Supreme Court, which earlier
this year reversed a Third District decision in the Mower case. "This is a
disingenuous ruling," according to Panzer, "It says that the only defenses
are for possession and cultivation, there's nothing else implied and if they
[the drafters of 215] wanted anything else [legalized] they would have
included it. But if you take that to its logical conclusion, the caregiver
is not allowed to hand marijuana to the patient, because that's
distribution. You can't even say that growing it yourself is a legal
alternative because where do you get the seeds from? Distributing seeds is
the same thing as distributing bud` The Trippet ruling said there is a
limited exception for transportation. The appeals court cited Trippet but
contradicted Trippet` I argued that if the electorate meant for patients to
have access to this medicine, there has to be a legal way to get it to them
or you're encouraging illegal conduct, which is against public policy. You
can't say 'We want this medicine to exist but the only supply has to be from
illegal sources.'"
Add Buried Stories of '02
The Journal of the National Cancer Institute reported in mid-October that
cancer rates have been rising since 1987, and that the NCI and the American
Cancer Society had created a "false impression of a recent decline in cancer
incidence." Both institutions have now revised their websites to reflect
the grimmer reality. The authors reviewed data from 1981 to 1998 to assess
the impact of late reporting of cancer cases to NCI by the10 registries that
collect data from hospitals, clinics, and doctors. They determined that only
88% to 97% of cancer cases (varying with the type of cancer) were reported
within the requisite19-month window. By factoring in the cases that were
reported belatedly, the authors generated new data. For example: the
incidence of lung cancer in women, believed to be flat, has been rising 1.2%
a year since 1996. The incidence of colorectal cancer in white women has
been rising 2.8% annually since 1996 (rather than 0.9%). Melanoma rates in
white males, thought to be declining slightly, have been rising 4.1% a year
since 1981! The incidence of prostate cancer in white males has been rising
2.2% a year. For white men in 1998, the prostate cancer rate was 12% higher
than initially reported (and it was14% higher for black men). Only Sharon
Begley of the Wall St. Journal picked up on this story. She got a
mealy-mouthed comment from Ahmedin Jemal, director of the American Cancer
Society's surveillance program: "This tells us something we didn't know
about whether our intervention and prevention programs are working." It
tells us they aren't...
Even the revised numbers should be taken with a grain of garlic powder.
Epidemiologists sometimes employ arcane algebra to transform rough or
incomplete data into ostensibly precise data. In the present instance, the
NCI registries ascertain the number of cancer cases from only 14% of the
doctors and healthcare facilities nationwide. They then assume that their
sample is representative of the other 86% to within a minuscule margin of
error.
* Radiologists pushing "full-body" CT scans provided a lucrative source of
ad revenue for our great metropolitan newspapers in '02. Coincidentally,
almost none of the papers publicized a UC San Diego study showing that the
scans -advertised to promote peace-of-mind- often heighten anxiety by
revealing small abnormalities that would be dealt with by the body's own
defense systems, and exposing patients to costly follow-up procedures of no
practical value. A team led by Giovanna Casola, MD, looked at 1,192 patents
who were scanned at private, for-profit centers. Benign abnormalities
requiring additional scans or tests were found in 46% of them. Only one
percent -were found to have life-threatening malignancies or aortic
aneurysms. Casola now intends to determine how many in that group were
actually helped by the scans (which expose the body to damaging radiation
and cost $800 to $1,000). "It's one thing if you catch something early that
you can do something about," she says, "but how much have you helped a
patient by finding inoperable liver or pancreatic cancer?"
Casola reported her findings Dec. 3 at the annual meeting of the
Radiological Society of North America. The RSNA literally downplayed the
story by making it the second part of a press release headed "Full-body
Screening CT Gains Popularity Though Some Experts Urge Caution." The lead
item -of far less significance to the general public- described the
so-called research of Max Rosen, MD, medical director of BeWell Body Scan in
Boston (and an assistant prof at Harvard Medical School), Telemarketers
directed by Rosen "conducted 450 random telephone interviews to determine
the needs and demands for full-body scanning services," according to the
RSNA release.
Rosen is quoted thus: "Initially, the people participating in the survey did
not know much about full-body CT scanning. However, 82% were interested
after an explanation." In other words, Rosen was conducting what pollsters
call a "push-pull" survey, in which the so-called "explanation" is scripted
to maximize the client's desired result. The real function of Rosen's
survey was not to "determine the needs" for CT scans but to promote the
demand. It was telemarketing in the name of research.
Rosen is quoted further: "Nearly 3 in 4 (75%) -sic- thought the chance to go
over their images with a radiologist was highly valuable` Radiological
images now can be used in creative, proactive ways. Patients are riveted by
the images of their own bodies. Radiologists can use these images to help
people change their behaviors -from smoking cessation to weight-loss
counseling." Rosen leaves unspoken the reality that Casola documents: the
main thing that scanners convince patients to do is order additional scans.
Radiology as a specialty tends to attract medical students seeking careers
that don't involve contact with flesh-and-blood patients. Rosen advises
colleagues getting into the scanning biz to brush up their people skills,
i.e., salesmanship. "According to Dr. Rosen," the RSNA press release
concludes, "full-body CT scanning could change the role of radiologists
within the medical community and with patients. 'If radiologists are going
to get involved in screening and talking to patients, then we have a
responsibility to provide patients with information that they can
understand. We have an obligation to explain what is important for
follow-up`'"
Harvard Medical School also graces the resume of Dr. Douglas Jacobs, creator
of National Depression Screening Day` As Richard Nixon once asked Robert
Haldemann, "What is it about those guys from Harvard Med School, Bob?"
Drug Czar Blues
The drug czar's daddy was high in the CIA
The drug czar's daddy was high in the CIA
Taught Johnny how to read other people's mail
And mislead and cover up and pray
Drug czar told the ad man create a campaign
Drug czar told the ad man create a campaign
I wanna see marijuana and Muhammed Atta
on the same plane
Say it's ten times stronger than their daddy's weed
Say it's ten times stronger than the pot that used to be
But sir that means they don't inhale as much
Don't get technical with me
I hear they're counting these ads
Towards your community service.
More kids getting treated for pot than cocaine or smack
More kids in treatment for pot than cocaine or smack
They may be court-ordered but`
You gotta pick your facts
Drug Czar preaching to the old and young
Drug Czar preaching to the old and young
From the Taliban to the Televangelist
It's just a trip of the tongue
Pubdate: Wed, 01 Jan 2003
Source: Anderson Valley Advertiser (CA)
Copyright: 2003 Anderson Valley Advertiser
Contact: <mailto:ava@pacific.net> ava@pacific.net
Author: Fred Gardner
marijuana initiative- Robert Galambos, then 32, was busted by Calaveras
County sheriff's deputies and charged by the DA with cultivation of 382
marijuana plants and possession for sale. He had more than six pounds of
processed mj on hand, too. Galambos claimed to be growing for and supplying
the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Co-op (although the only product he'd ever
brought to the OCBC, according to Jeff Jones, had been rejected for mold).
When Galambos was tried in March '99, Tony Serra argued that his client
believed that growing for a club was lawful under Prop 215. Galambos also
claimed to be a medical marijuana user who has suffered headaches since
fracturing his skull in a car wreck in the late '80s; but he didn't obtain a
doctor's recommendation until after he was busted.
Galambos had been working towards a degree in child development at Columbia
College. A teacher who attended his trial told the Modesto Bee that Galambos
was "one of her best students, and had been doing exemplary work with
pre-schoolers as part of his training. 'He is thoughtful, considerate,
sensitive and intelligent,' she said. 'We need more people like him going
into child development, and if he couldn't be a teacher it would be a
tremendous loss to society.'"
Despite Serra's eloquence -it was about Galambos that he said "you can't in
essence legalize milk and outlaw the cow"- the jury voted "guilty" on the
cultivation charge. They deadlocked on possession-for-sale after a full day
of deliberations. In exchange for the DA not retrying him on
possession-for-sale, Galambos pled guilty to possession of more than an
ounce. In June '99 he was sentenced to five years probation (nine months in
jail). He has been free on bail pending appeal, which was handled by Bill
Panzer of Oakland.
On Dec. 26 the Third Appellate District court upheld Galambos's conviction.
"The ballot materials make clear that the proposition was narrowly drafted
to avoid the creation of loopholes for drug dealers," wrote Justice Daniel
Kolkey, referring to ballot arguments written by Bill Zimmerman -the
respectable "professional campaign manager" who had usurped Dennis Peron's
leadership.
Galambos is expected to appeal to the state Supreme Court, which earlier
this year reversed a Third District decision in the Mower case. "This is a
disingenuous ruling," according to Panzer, "It says that the only defenses
are for possession and cultivation, there's nothing else implied and if they
[the drafters of 215] wanted anything else [legalized] they would have
included it. But if you take that to its logical conclusion, the caregiver
is not allowed to hand marijuana to the patient, because that's
distribution. You can't even say that growing it yourself is a legal
alternative because where do you get the seeds from? Distributing seeds is
the same thing as distributing bud` The Trippet ruling said there is a
limited exception for transportation. The appeals court cited Trippet but
contradicted Trippet` I argued that if the electorate meant for patients to
have access to this medicine, there has to be a legal way to get it to them
or you're encouraging illegal conduct, which is against public policy. You
can't say 'We want this medicine to exist but the only supply has to be from
illegal sources.'"
Add Buried Stories of '02
The Journal of the National Cancer Institute reported in mid-October that
cancer rates have been rising since 1987, and that the NCI and the American
Cancer Society had created a "false impression of a recent decline in cancer
incidence." Both institutions have now revised their websites to reflect
the grimmer reality. The authors reviewed data from 1981 to 1998 to assess
the impact of late reporting of cancer cases to NCI by the10 registries that
collect data from hospitals, clinics, and doctors. They determined that only
88% to 97% of cancer cases (varying with the type of cancer) were reported
within the requisite19-month window. By factoring in the cases that were
reported belatedly, the authors generated new data. For example: the
incidence of lung cancer in women, believed to be flat, has been rising 1.2%
a year since 1996. The incidence of colorectal cancer in white women has
been rising 2.8% annually since 1996 (rather than 0.9%). Melanoma rates in
white males, thought to be declining slightly, have been rising 4.1% a year
since 1981! The incidence of prostate cancer in white males has been rising
2.2% a year. For white men in 1998, the prostate cancer rate was 12% higher
than initially reported (and it was14% higher for black men). Only Sharon
Begley of the Wall St. Journal picked up on this story. She got a
mealy-mouthed comment from Ahmedin Jemal, director of the American Cancer
Society's surveillance program: "This tells us something we didn't know
about whether our intervention and prevention programs are working." It
tells us they aren't...
Even the revised numbers should be taken with a grain of garlic powder.
Epidemiologists sometimes employ arcane algebra to transform rough or
incomplete data into ostensibly precise data. In the present instance, the
NCI registries ascertain the number of cancer cases from only 14% of the
doctors and healthcare facilities nationwide. They then assume that their
sample is representative of the other 86% to within a minuscule margin of
error.
* Radiologists pushing "full-body" CT scans provided a lucrative source of
ad revenue for our great metropolitan newspapers in '02. Coincidentally,
almost none of the papers publicized a UC San Diego study showing that the
scans -advertised to promote peace-of-mind- often heighten anxiety by
revealing small abnormalities that would be dealt with by the body's own
defense systems, and exposing patients to costly follow-up procedures of no
practical value. A team led by Giovanna Casola, MD, looked at 1,192 patents
who were scanned at private, for-profit centers. Benign abnormalities
requiring additional scans or tests were found in 46% of them. Only one
percent -were found to have life-threatening malignancies or aortic
aneurysms. Casola now intends to determine how many in that group were
actually helped by the scans (which expose the body to damaging radiation
and cost $800 to $1,000). "It's one thing if you catch something early that
you can do something about," she says, "but how much have you helped a
patient by finding inoperable liver or pancreatic cancer?"
Casola reported her findings Dec. 3 at the annual meeting of the
Radiological Society of North America. The RSNA literally downplayed the
story by making it the second part of a press release headed "Full-body
Screening CT Gains Popularity Though Some Experts Urge Caution." The lead
item -of far less significance to the general public- described the
so-called research of Max Rosen, MD, medical director of BeWell Body Scan in
Boston (and an assistant prof at Harvard Medical School), Telemarketers
directed by Rosen "conducted 450 random telephone interviews to determine
the needs and demands for full-body scanning services," according to the
RSNA release.
Rosen is quoted thus: "Initially, the people participating in the survey did
not know much about full-body CT scanning. However, 82% were interested
after an explanation." In other words, Rosen was conducting what pollsters
call a "push-pull" survey, in which the so-called "explanation" is scripted
to maximize the client's desired result. The real function of Rosen's
survey was not to "determine the needs" for CT scans but to promote the
demand. It was telemarketing in the name of research.
Rosen is quoted further: "Nearly 3 in 4 (75%) -sic- thought the chance to go
over their images with a radiologist was highly valuable` Radiological
images now can be used in creative, proactive ways. Patients are riveted by
the images of their own bodies. Radiologists can use these images to help
people change their behaviors -from smoking cessation to weight-loss
counseling." Rosen leaves unspoken the reality that Casola documents: the
main thing that scanners convince patients to do is order additional scans.
Radiology as a specialty tends to attract medical students seeking careers
that don't involve contact with flesh-and-blood patients. Rosen advises
colleagues getting into the scanning biz to brush up their people skills,
i.e., salesmanship. "According to Dr. Rosen," the RSNA press release
concludes, "full-body CT scanning could change the role of radiologists
within the medical community and with patients. 'If radiologists are going
to get involved in screening and talking to patients, then we have a
responsibility to provide patients with information that they can
understand. We have an obligation to explain what is important for
follow-up`'"
Harvard Medical School also graces the resume of Dr. Douglas Jacobs, creator
of National Depression Screening Day` As Richard Nixon once asked Robert
Haldemann, "What is it about those guys from Harvard Med School, Bob?"
Drug Czar Blues
The drug czar's daddy was high in the CIA
The drug czar's daddy was high in the CIA
Taught Johnny how to read other people's mail
And mislead and cover up and pray
Drug czar told the ad man create a campaign
Drug czar told the ad man create a campaign
I wanna see marijuana and Muhammed Atta
on the same plane
Say it's ten times stronger than their daddy's weed
Say it's ten times stronger than the pot that used to be
But sir that means they don't inhale as much
Don't get technical with me
I hear they're counting these ads
Towards your community service.
More kids getting treated for pot than cocaine or smack
More kids in treatment for pot than cocaine or smack
They may be court-ordered but`
You gotta pick your facts
Drug Czar preaching to the old and young
Drug Czar preaching to the old and young
From the Taliban to the Televangelist
It's just a trip of the tongue
Pubdate: Wed, 01 Jan 2003
Source: Anderson Valley Advertiser (CA)
Copyright: 2003 Anderson Valley Advertiser
Contact: <mailto:ava@pacific.net> ava@pacific.net
Author: Fred Gardner
