The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, October 15, 2010 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
PORT HURON, Mich.
0 Man serving life for
murder wins appeal
A federal judge has overturned
the murder conviction of a man
serving life for a 1986 killing in a
college parking lot in Port Huron.
Temujin (TEM'-uh-gin) Kensu
was known back then as Fred Free-
man. He says he didn't shoot Scott
Macklem and was 400 miles away
that day.
Judge Denise Page Hood yester-
day said Kensu's rights were vio-
lated by an ineffective trial lawyer
and misconduct by the prosecutor.
The 52-page decision includes a
reference to an informant who says
W he lied at the 1987trial when he said
Kensu had admitted the murder in
the St. Clair County jail.
The Michigan attorney general's
office can appeal the decision or
give Kensu a new trial. He won't
immediately be released from pris-
on.
WASHINGTON D.C.
House to vote on
bonus payment for
Social Security
The House will vote in Novem-
ber on a bill to provide $250 pay-
ments to Social Security recipients
to make up for the lack of a cost-of-
living increase for next year, House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yester-
day.
The Social Security Administra-
tion is expected to announce today
that more than 58 million retirees
and disabled Americans will go a
second consecutive year without an
increase in benefits.
Pelosi said she will schedule a
vote on a bill to provide the $250
payments when Congress returns
S for a lame duck session after the
Nov. 2 congressional elections. The
payments would be similar to those
provided by the government's mas-
sive economic recovery package
last year.
But even if Pelosi can get the
House to approve a second pay-
ment, the proposal faces opposition
in the Senate.
JUNEAU, Alaska
Sarah Paln touts
life in Alaska in
TLC series trailer
" Sarah Palin says she prefers life
in Alaska to being "in some stuffy
old political office."
The comments from the former
Alaska governor - and potential
2012 presidential contender -
come in a trailer for her upcoming
" TLC series, "Sarah Palin's Alaska."
The trailer shows images of Palin
and her family in the Alaska out-
doors, engaging in activities such as
trekking on a snowy mountainside,
four-wheeling and dog-sledding.
It appeared on the website zap2it.
corm.
Palin says in the trailer: "I'd rath-
er be doing this than in some stuffy
old political office. I'd rather be out
here, being free."
The series, an eight-week travel-
ogue of sorts, is set to begin airing
Nov. 14, after the mid-term elec-
tions on which the former 2008
GOP vice presidential candidate
has been focused.
BINT JBEIL, Lebanon
Iran president
taunts Israel from
Lebanon border
Iran's president taunted arch-
enemy Israel yesterday from just
across the tense border in Lebanon,
rallying tens of thousands of Hez-
bollah supporters as Israeli attack
helicopters buzzed in the skies
nearby.
"The world should know that
the Zionists will perish," declared
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, echoing
previous verbal attacks in which he
has said Israel should be wiped off
the map.
"Occupied Palestine will be lib-
erated from the filth of occupation
by the strength of resistance and
through the faith of the resistance,"
the Iranian leader vowed as cheers
went up from the crowd, waving a
sea of Lebanese, Iranian and Hez-
bollah flags.
The fiery speech was delivered
in the border village of Bint Jbeil,
which was nearly destroyed by
Israeli bombs in the 2006 war with
Hezbollah and rebuilt with the help
of Iranian cash. A stronghold of the
Shiite militant group, Ahmadine-
jad's visit to the southern Lebanese
area was denounced by Washing-
ton and Israel as a provocation.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports.
For medical marijuana
patients, dosing is DIY
More research
necessary to
determine effects of
drug on conditions
By SUZANNE JACOBS
Daily StaffReporter
In 2008 Michigan voters legal-
ized the medical use of marijuana,
but unlike most other medicines,
marijuana does not come with a
standard dosing procedure.
The responsibility of dosing
the medicine falls to the patient
because the effects of marijuana
vary depending on the individ-
ual, the condition being treated
and the type of marijuana used.
Until scientists do more research
on the individual compounds in
marijuana, their effects on medi-
cal conditions will remain unpre-
dictable.
Dennis Hayes, one of the found-
ers ofthe Ann Arbor Medical Mari-
juana Patient Collective (A2M2PC)
and a lawyer who specializes in
medical marijuana legislation, said
that even veteran marijuana users
don't have a way to calculate impor-
tant effects such as timing, intensi-
ty and duration.
Mike McLeod, another found-
er of A2M2PC, said experts may
be able to devise an optimal dos-
ing approach for marijuana in
the future, but it won't be pos-
sible without federally-supported
research on the individual com-
pounds in marijuana. Until then, he
said, patients will have to navigate
the dosing landscape themselves.
McLeod has worked with a
doctor in California who has a lot
of experience with medical mari-
juana. They have made efforts to
compile dataon what works best for
different patients, but McLeod said
the situation is "just a real politi-
cal hot potato," adding that more
research is needed, but it won't
come until there's a change in fed-
eral drug policy.
Dr. Daniel Clauw, director of
the University's Chronic Pain and
Fatigue Research Center, helped
write the University Hospital's
ANNIVERSARY
From Page lA
ored Al and Judith Guskin, two
University alumni who listened to
Kennedy's speech as graduate stu-
dents and later helped spearhead
the formation of the Peace Corps.
In her speech on the Union
steps, Coleman recalled the time
she visited the White House as
a finalist for a science competi-
tion and met Kennedy. It was the
March after he established the
Peace Corps, and she said she
thanked him for his work.
"I could not have imagined that
one day I would have the privilege
to stand literally at the birthplace
of the Peace Corps and thank the
students and faculty whose enthu-
siasm made JFK's vision such a
powerful reality," Coleman said.
In addition to commending the
University community for its ser-
vice, Coleman also talked about
University alum Tom Hayden, a
well known 1960s activist who
covered Kennedy's speech as edi-
tor in chief of The Michigan Daily.
"Some say I was the voice of
my generation, but I say I was the
Guskins' mouth piece," Hayden
saidinaninterviewafter the event.
Hayden also spoke at the Hatch-
er Graduate Library last night
in front of a crowd of about 200
people about his involvement in
the creation of the Peace Corps,
activism in the 1960s and the role
of community service in today's
world.
During his time as editor of The
Daily, Hayden printed a letter by
medical marijuana guide - acom-
prehensive summary of how mari-
juana reportedly affects patients
with the qualifying medical condi-
tions specified in Michigan's medi-
cal marijuana law. He said because
marijuana hasn't undergone the
same level of testing that "classic
drugs" have, marijuana is "more
like a nutritional supplement."
Clauw, who has given writ-
ten certifications to some of his
patients, said without more knowl-
edge of the intricacies of how the
drug works, physicians don't know
what dose to recommend to their
patients. He also said the strength
and purity of the medicine varies
depending on where it comes from.
Mike Meno, the director of com-
munications for the Marijuana
Policy Project - the organization
responsible for drafting Michi-
gan's medical marijuana law - said
that substantial research has been
done on marijuana, but none of it
has been done through the Federal
Drug Administration because mar-
ijuana is a schedule I drug under
the Controlled Substances Act and
is therefore held to a "ridiculous
standard."
The Drug Enforcement Agency
has put marijuana, along with
GHB, heroin and LSD, in the sched-
ule I drug classification, the most
restrictive out of the five drug clas-
sifications listed under the CSA.
The category consists of drugs
that have a high potential for abuse
and no accepted medical use in the
United States. In 2001 the DEA
denied a petition to make marijua-
na a less restricted classification,
'citing its lack of medical use as the
primary reason.
Meno disagrees with DEA's
decision and said several studies
confirm marijuana's safety and
medicinal properties.
"It's a blatant lie for the federal
government to say (marijuana) has
no medical efficacy," Meno said.
"There are patients who are ben-
efiting from it right now."
According to Dr. Rebecca Van
Dyke, a professor in the Depart-
ment of Internal Medicine at the
University and a specialist in gas-
twnenterology and hepatology, the
lackoffederallysupported research
the Guskins, in which the couple,
inspired by Kennedy's words, out-
lined their idea for the Peace Corps
and asked readers to write in with
their opinions. Hayden said he was
surprised at the number of people
who responded to the letter.
"It was one of those mysterious
moments where people at the mar-
gins felt they mattered," he said.
Later on during his time at the
University, Hayden and a group
of other students sent a series of
questions about global policy to
each presidential candidate in the
1960 election. One of the questions
asked about the candidates' posi-
tions on a "national youth corps
serving in constructive peacetime
activity abroad in place of military
service."
Kennedy's questionnaire was
hand-delivered by one of the stu-
dents when the future president
visited campus shortly before his 2
a.m.speech, according-to Hayden.
Though he played a role in
establishing the Peace Corps,
Hayden said he felt a strong desire
to stay in the United States to
focus on improving social issues at
home, instead of going abroad.
Hayden went on to be one of the
founding members of Students for
a Democratic Society and author
of the Port Huron Statemen and
later Hayden later a California
state senator.
In his speech, Hayden also
discussed the current economic
crisis. He suggested that service
organizations today could func-
tion like the Federal Emergency
Relief Administration and the
Civil Works Administration dur-
on marijuana is not only because
of its schedule I status, but also
because it is an herbal medicine.
"The problem that we have with
marijuana and some herbal materi-
als is they have not undergone the
same level of controlled testing
and so we often can't give as good
information about how well will
this work, what are its side effects,
what might be reason to choose
this material over other material,"
she said.
Van Dyke - who said she warns
her patients against using marijua-
na because current research sug-
gests it may increase liver scarring
in patients with Hepatitis C or liver
disease - added that she thinks
the United States should change
the way it conducts drug testing so
agents like marijuana can be thor-
oughly studied.
Until more research is done on
marijuana, many new patients who
don't yet know how to dose them-
selves look to local collectives for
guidance.
Jim Cifor, owner of the Ann
Arbor Health Collective, said many
of the more than 1,500 patients
in the collective ask for advice on
what to buy. On the first visit, he
said many end up sampling a vari-
ety of products.
According to Cifor, certain
strains of marijuana are best for
specific conditions. For example,
Cifor has found that the strain
called Lavender works best for
patients with multiple sclerosis.
Arthritis patients like himself,
he said, benefit fron the collec-
tive's glycerin tincture - a liquid
extraction of the active canna-
binoids found in marijuana. To
use the tincture, patients put five
drops under their tongue and
then wait 20 minutes to see how it
affects them.
In addition to marijuana seeds
and tinctures, the Health Collec-
tive offers massage oils, lip balms,
topicalsprays, ointments and baked
goods, like their chocolate-dipped
coffee and cinnamon favored-
"canna cake" with cannabis cream
filling. Because of federal drug laws
and to avoid legal troubles, Cifor
declined to say how much his prod-
ucts cost.
ing the Great Depression and
create needed jobs. Expanding
community service programs
abroad, Hayden said, would also
contribute to shedding a more pos-
itive light on the United States.
Hayden also expressed his
approval for the Obama Adminis-
tration's $215 million increase in
"funding for the Peace Corps, but he
added that this figure is miniscule
compared to how much the United
States is spending on the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan, which will
drive the nation further into debt.
"I think the future of social
activism in the United States rests
very much with the Obama gen-
eration," Hayden said.
During yesterday's commemo-
ration on the Union steps, Julia
Darlow (D-Ann Arbor), chair of
the University's Board of Regents,
also commended the activism of
today's University students.
Kennedy's first cousin Marnee
DeVine also attended the celebra-
tion and said she is "thrilled that
international service remains such
a strong commitment on the part
of Michigan's faculty, staff."
Several speakers expressed
their hope of continuing to expand
the Peace Corps. Harris Wofford,
former Democratic U.S. Senator
from Pennsylvania and an archi-
tect of the Peace Corps, said it is
time to get serious about growing
international service.
"I'm perfectly ready to have the
University of Michigan continue
that leadership."
- Daily Staf f Reporter Sara
Boboltz contributed to this report.
PHOBIC?
Afraid of Snakes or Spiders?
Looking for medication-free volunteers, ages 18-45, with an
excessive fear of snakes or spiders to participate in a phobic
research study involving visits to the Rachel Upjohn Bldg. and
blood draws.
Compensation pup to $320
phobiastudy@umich.edu .
RB#243-1046 or call: 734-647-8354 Unim stHesalh