> TWO Different nice bits of news.
>
> They are both potentially very important.
>
> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A leading U.S. doctors group has endorsed using
> marijuana for medical purposes, urging the government to roll back a
> prohibition on using it to treat patients and supporting studies into
> its medical applications.
>
> The American College of Physicians, the second-largest doctors group
> in the United States, issued a policy statement on medical marijuana
> this week after it was approved by its governing body, the group said
> on Friday.
>
> +++++++++++++ AND
>
> Excerpted from the Santa Barbara independent - A group has formed in
> Santa Barbara to put an initiative on the November ballot that would
> legalize cannabis for industrial and nutritional products, medicinal
> preparations, and for recreational and euphoric use. The group
> announced the California Cannabis Hemp and Health Initiative Campaign
> on Friday at a press conference on the steps of Santa Barbara City
> Hall. The initiative would also include clearing all criminal records
> for people involved in non-violent cannabis, hemp and marijuana
> offenses.
>
> The group, headed by Jack Herer -- called by Dr. David Bearman the man
> responsible for the rejuvenation of the U.S. hemp industry -- argues
> that not only does cannabis serve as a medicine to many sick, but that
> cannabis is the only way to reverse the greenhouse effect and can be
> used as paper, fiber, and food as well. The U.S. government, they say,
> is hiding these facts.
>
> "I can know about cotton, flack and nylon," said Herer at the press
> conference, "but there's not a word of hemp in the schools." Herer,
> who ran for president of the United States twice as a member of the
> Grassroots party, said that for 5,000 to 6,000 years 60 to 80 percent
> of the world's production of fuel and clothing was made from hemp. The
> group is hoping that the dialogue will begin to introduce the idea
> that a hemp cultivation program can eliminate greenhouse gasses while
> replenishing the atmosphere and replacing fossil fuels with hemp bio-
> fuels.
>
> The press conference unknowingly coincided with an announcement on
> Friday by the American College of Physicians that endorsed cannabis as
> medicine. The college, which is the second largest physician group in
> the United States and includes 124,000 members, also advised the
> government to stop hindering research on the drug and to repeal its
> prohibition.
>
> etc. etc.
>
> Really nice that even in the face of the recent newzealand BS studies
> about cancer and cannabis, that something as big as that would stand
> up and say its good!
>
> Love and Light