IN FRATERNAM MEAM: TIDBITS OF INFORMATIONS

IN FRATERNAM MEAM

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

TIDBITS OF INFORMATIONS

(Remember the grilled cheese with the face
of the Virgin Mary bought from eBay?)

CASINO THAT BOUGHT FAMED GRILLED CHEESE WINS
DUBIOUS TOYS

HOUSTON, Texas----
An online casion that bought a cheese sandwich said to
bear the Virgin Mary's image and a cane sold to banish a
young boy's fear of ghosts, has struck again--- this time
paying a man $5,300 for his naughty children's Christmas Gifts.

The Pasadena man said last week that he decided to auction the
three Nintendo DS game systems because his sons, ages 9, 11,
and 15, has misbehaved.

The family's decision made headlines, intriguing Golden Palace.com,
casino spokesman Montey Kerr said.
"Everybody knows Santa does'nt come to naughty kids",
Kerr said Sunday.

The Antigua based casino agreed to bid on the game systems
as long the family promised to donate the proceeds to charity, he said.

(CHICAGOTRIB/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

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Can Ecstasy ease cancer anxiety?
Study will tell

WASHINGTON ---
The illegal club drug Ecstasy can trigger euphoria among the
debilitating anxiety that cancer patients feel as they face
their final days?

The Food and Drug Adminstration has approved a pilot study
looking at whether the recreational hallucinogen can help
terminally ill patients lessen their fears, quell thoughts
of suicide and make it easier for them to deal with loved ones.

"End of life issues are very important and are getting more
and more attention, and yet there are very few options for
patients who are facing death," Dr. John Halpero, the Harvard
research psychiatrist in charge of the study said Monday.

The small, four month study is expected to begin early next spring.
It will test the drug's effects on 12 cancer patients from the
Lahey Clinic Medical Center in the Boston area. The research is
being sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic
Stidies, a non profit group that plans to raise $250,000 to fund it.

MAPS on its web site, touted the study's approval, saying, "the
longest day of winter has passed, and maybe so has the decades long
era of resistance to psychedelic research".

CHICAGOTRIB/by LOLITA C. BALDOR/ ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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POLL: OLDER AMERICANS BACK MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Three fourths would make it legal, though fewer think it helps

WASHINGTON---
Almost three fourths of older Americans support legalizing
medical marijuana for medical use, according to a poll done for
the nation's largest advocacy group for seniors.

More than half of those questioned said they think marijuan has
medical benefits, while a larger majority agreed the drug is addictive.

AARP, with 35 million members, says it has no political position
on medical marijuana.

But with medical marijuana at the center of a Supreme Court case to
be decided next year and almost a dozen states with medical marijuana
laws on their books, AARP decided to study the issues.

"The use of medical marijuana applies to many older Americans who
may benefit from cannabis", said Ed Dwyer, edictor at AARP.
The magazaine, which will discuss the matter in its March/April
issue appearing in late Jnauary.

Among the 1,706 adults polled in AARP's random phone survey in
November, opinions varied along regonal and generational lines.

Overall, 72 percent of respondents agreed "adults should be allowed
to legally use marijuana for mediucal purposes, if a physician
recommends it". Those in the Northeast (79 percent) and the West
(82 percent) were more receptive to the idea than in the Middwest
(67 percent), Southwest (65 percent_ and South (70 percent).

Though 69 percent of those 70 and older said they support legal
medical marijuana use, less than half agreed it has medical benefits.

Seventy percent of respondents 45 percent said they believe in the
medical benefits of pot, as did 59 percent of those in the 50-69 age group.

While 74 percent of all people surveyed said pot is addictive, older
respondents were more likely to think so; 83 percent of those 70 and
older, compared with 61 percent of those 45-49.

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on whether federal
agents can pursue sick people who use homegrown marijuana with their
doctors permission and their states approval.

The Bush adminstration said alllowing medical marijuana in California
would undermine federal drug control programs and that pot grown for
medical use could nd up on the illegal market.

CHICAGTRIB/ by Elizabeth Wlofe/ Associated Press)

posted by infraternam meam @ 3:23 AM

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