Most L.A. pot clinics to close under new law

City council voted to shrink number of dispensaries from 1,000 to 70
LOS ANGELES - The City Council gave final approval Tuesday to a much-anticipated ordinance that will close most pot dispensaries and curb the so-called “Green Rush” that swept through much of California in recent years.

The ordinance, which passed 9-3, caps the number of dispensaries at 70 and provides guidelines that will push the clinics out of neighborhoods and into industrial areas. FROM MSNBC.com

Alternative Swine Flu Therapies

While people line up for H1N1 shots across Canada, not all health professionals are trumpeting the benefits of inoculations.

Alternative medicine practitioners say you can skip the vaccine — and still avoid getting sick — with herbal supplements, good nutrition and other natural remedies.

While the mainstream medical community remains skeptical, packages of a remedy intended to beat H1N1 are going out the door faster than staff can put them together at the Access Natural Healing homeopathic clinic in Vancouver.

From CBC News.  Read Full Article

FDA and FTC Go Rogue and Threaten Dr. Weil

Both the FDA and FTC have declared all-out war against any natural products that might offer options to the H1N1 swine flu vaccines. This week, they went rogue on one of the best known doctors in alternative medicine, Dr. Andrew Weil. The FTC and the FDA have threatened Dr. Weil with criminal prosecution for making true statements about his immune-boosting formula.  In part, the threats against Dr. Weil are:

This is to advise you that the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and the United States Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) reviewed your website at the Internet address www.drweil.com on October 13, 2009. The FDA has determined that your website offers a product for sale that is intended to diagnose, mitigate, prevent, treat or cure the H1N1 Flu Virus in people. This product has not been approved, cleared, or otherwise authorized by FDA for use in the diagnosis, mitigation, prevention, treatment, or cure of the H1N1 Flu Virus.

This product is your Immune Support Formula. The marketing of this product violates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDC Act). 21 U.S.C. §§ 331, 351, 352. We request that you immediately cease marketing unapproved, uncleared, or unauthorized products for the diagnosis, mitigation, prevention, treatment, or cure of the H1N1 Flu Virus.

So the FDA wants him to stop marketing his immune support formula because they have not given the product their personal blessings and approval…

Violations of the FTC Act may result in legal action in the form of a Federal District Court injunction or Administrative Order. An order also may require that you pay back money to consumers.

Oh the irony…

This FTC / FDA letter claims Dr. Weil has been promoting his immune-boosting formula “…without rigorous scientific evidence sufficient to substantiate the claims.”

And the rigorous scientific evidence for the H1N1 vaccine is where???

You can read the full letter to Dr. Weil on the FTC’s own website - http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/ucm186837.htm

Leafy Greens Top the List of the 10 Riskiest Foods

The Center for Science in the Public Interest issued a list today of the top ten foods that can make you sick. Surprisingly enough, some of the foods now being called risky are the same foods you need in order to stay healthy. This year, one in four people will get sick from eating contaminated food.

Making the top 10 are:

1. Leafy Greens can be contaminated by the very common strains of E.Colia and/or Salmonella causing large outbreaks of disease. Remember the outbreak with bagged spinach?

2. Eggs are contaminated primarily with salmonella, a bacteria that often causes diarrhea.

3. Tuna. The most common complaint was scombroid illness due to scombroid toxins, which are linked to fresh water fish and can occur in tuna that is left in a warm place too long. Side effects of ingesting scombroid toxins include flushing, nausea and cramps.

4. Oysters. The risks of eating raw or undercooked foods, including seafood, are well known.

5. Potatoes. This one really surprised me, but potatoes caused 108 outbreaks between 1990 and 2006, resulting in 3,695 cases of illness.

6. Cheeses are susceptible to contamination because they are made using many steps, including curdling, salting, and processing.

7. Ice Cream. Contaminated pre-mix from unpasteurized eggs was the reason a large outbreak occurred in 1994.

8. Tomatoes are frequently linked to foodborne illnesses and they are suceptible to contamination because they are often eaten raw instead of being cooked to kill bacteria.

9. Sprouts. The CSPI report identified sprout seeds as the primary source of contamination for a germinated sprout. Salmonella is common to sprouts, as is E. coli.

10. Berries. Strawberries, blackberries and raspberries are just a few of the fruits the CSPI flagged as having contributed to 25 outbreaks between 1990 and 2006, causing 3,397 illnesses.

Full article:
CSPI Urges Senate to Pass Food Safety Modernization Act

Along Came a Spider

… who sat down beside her,
and gave her boyfriend a boost??

A couple of years ago, it was reported that nature’s answer to an alternative for Viagra was a Brazilian spider. This spider delivered more than a painful bite that sent most victims to the hospital. Its venom stimulates an hours-long erection. It was relatively easy for emergency room staff to immediately spot the victims of a bite from the Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria nigriventer). Patients’ not only experienced overall pain and an increase in blood pressure, they also arrive in the ER with an uncomfortable erection.

Now that scientists have figured out the chemical in the venom that seems to be responsible for the penis boost, researchers presented their findings this week at the American Heart Association’s conference on high blood pressure research in Chicago.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that these research dollars would be much better spent on something other than the use of deadly venom for erectile dysfunction. In the late 1990s, Viagra became the Sexual Holy Grail. Competition in the pharmaceutical industry leads to, of course, additional pharmaceuticals for the treatment of impotence; Levitra and Cialis. That meant more marketing, more ads, more commercials on TV, and now a quest for deadly spider venom. Does the world really need yet another Viagra?

Interesting note about the Brazilian wandering spider: It’s extremely fast, extremely venomous, and extremely aggressive.

First, Do No Harm. THEN Kill Your Patients?

A lot of people are seriously misconstruing a provision in the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act (H.R. 3200), which enjoys broad support in Congress. The provision provides coverage under Medicare for people to TALK TO THEIR OWN DOCTOR (read: Consultation with your primary care physician – not some government employee) about their wishes and health care preferences (i.e. Living Will). Read more

KILL BILL: Revenge of the Lewin Group

As more Republicans speak out against Health Care Reform, you can’t help but notice a common thread in their arguments: the Lewin Group. Also painfully obvious is that they’re all using the same talking points, over and over again. Talking points provided to them by this mysterious Lewin Group they keep referencing.

As an example: Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (MN-6): “Approximately 114 million Americans are expected to leave private health insurance.” In all fairness, she’s not the only one regurgitating highlights from a Lewin Group report. For years, Read more

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