U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is sending strong signals that President Obama - who as a candidate said states should be allowed to make their own rules on medical marijuana - will end raids on pot dispensaries in California.

Neuropathic pain, which is frequently chronic, arises when neurones in the brain or peripheral nervous system become hyper-sensitised and generate abnormal or prolonged impulses. There are many causes of neuropathic pain including diabetic neuropathy, post-herpetic neuralgia, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and cancer. Around 40% of cancer patients suffer some degree of neuropathic pain.

"Companies are on schedule to conduct the first US efficacy trial of Sativex in neuropathic-related cancer pain in 2007."Severe neuropathic pain has proved difficult to treat and evidence suggests that none of the available drugs, mainly opioids, is effective in more than 50% of patients. Thus, it represents an area of significant unmet clinical need. The encouraging data from the Sativex phase III registration trials in multiple sclerosis patients suggest cannabis-derived medicines may have a valuable place in this sector of the pain market

good. 

yes I am. People shouldn't have to suffer when there is something that will help them. 

Just wondering that's all. And some people just like a little high.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Taking certain types of medication to deal with heartburn and excess stomach acid may increase the risk of cognitive impairment in the elderly, according to a new report.

Heck people can abuse anything if they want to.

good. 

Just wondering that's all. And some people just like a little high.

I'm more interested in Obama's plan to end the war, while I sit here watching a story about poor soldiers who came home without limbs.

If phantom limb sensations are normal then so too, alas, is phantom limb pain. This occurs in a majority of those who lose their limbs. (1) In fact, limbs do not need to be lost; it also occurs in conditions in which the brain is disconnected from the body, such as peripheral nerve injuries and after spinal cord injury, when an area becomes insentient (and usually paralysed).

The pain is described in various ways: burning, aching, 'as if the hand is being crushed in a vice,' etc. Such words, however, cannot fully encompass the experience of living with such a pain. In those with chronic pain after spinal cord injury it is frequently the pain rather than the paralysis that interferes with work and social life. One woman has said that paralysis does not stop life, but pain may. (2)

Mechanisms
There may be many mechanisms underlying phantom limb pain. Damage to nerve endings is often important: subsequent erroneous regrowth can lead to abnormal and painful discharge of neurons in the stump, and may change the way that nerves from the amputated limb connect to neurons within the spinal cord. There is also evidence for altered nervous activity within the brain as a result of the loss of sensory input from the amputated limb.

Unfortunately, phantom limb pain is generable intractable and chronic; once it develops it persists and is rarely improved by present medical treatments. Destructive surgical procedures are also of limited use. They can be effective for a few months, but pain always returns, frequently worse, and so surgery is only performed in patients with terminal illness.

Of growing concern to the VHA is the care of service members returning from deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan. In response to this growing need, a multidisciplinary expert panel has been organized to develop policy, guidance, and a comprehensive approach to address the pain care needs of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) service members. Particularly important are issues related to the seamless transition of pain care from military treatment facilities to VHA facilities, including four specialized VHA treatment facilities that have been established for veterans who have suffered traumatic injuries including blast injuries with head trauma and catastrophic injuries to the extremities. The existing infrastructure of the National Pain Management Strategy is being activated to specifically facilitate these transitions and to ensure that the necessary pain management resources are available to address the complex and serious array of problems experienced by these veterans