SAN FRANCISCO — California’s medical marijuana law survived its most serious legal challenge today as the U.S. Supreme Court denied appeals by two counties that argued they were being forced to condone violations of federal drug laws. The justices, without comment, denied a hearing to officials from San Diego and San Bernardino counties who challenged Proposition 215, an initiative approved by state voters in 1996 that became a model for laws in 12 other states. It allows patients to use marijuana for medical conditions with their doctor’s recommendation. The counties specifically objected to legislation requiring them to issue identification cards that protect holders from arrest by state or local police for possessing small amounts of marijuana for medical use. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government can enforce its laws against marijuana to prosecute users and suppliers of the drug in California and the other 12 states. The Obama administration has said it will target only traffickers who violate state as well as federal laws, although it has not stopped U.S. attorneys from raiding dispensaries that operate with local government approval. Prop. 215 remains in effect despite federal enforcement efforts that began as […]
President Barack Obama will announce tomorrow new rules for vehicle emissions and mileage, setting the first-ever nationwide standard for greenhouse-gas pollution, according to people familiar with the plan. The limit will be coordinated with new national fuel economy standards for cars and trucks, said the people, who asked not to be identified before the announcement. The action, which follows California’s push for approval of its own proposed standards, is the ‘biggest single step to curb global warming, Dan Becker, director of the environmental group Safe Climate Campaign, said in an interview. The White House’s top energy, environment and transportation officials have been meeting with automaker executives and other groups as the administration worked to craft a single national policy for vehicle emissions. It seeks to avoid the confusion of different state rules across the country. The Washington-based Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, whose members include General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., has called for a single standard. It’s ‘yet another indication of the growing consensus within the business community that Congress needs to take strong action on energy reform, and it needs to do it now, Dan Weiss, a director […]
WASHINGTON — Healthcare costs for Americans who get medical coverage through an employer hit a record $16,771 per family this year, and they are having to pay more themselves, a report released on Monday showed. Employers trying to save money in the current recession have forced workers to take on a greater portion of their healthcare costs, according to Milliman Inc., the consulting firm that prepared the report. That trend could accelerate the longer the recession lasts, the report stated. An estimated 170 million Americans get their health insurance through an employer. Healthcare costs, both payroll deductions and out-of-pocket medical expenses, now eat up 14 percent of the average household income of about $50,000 for these people, the study found. Costs grew by an average of $1,162 per family this year from an average of $15,609 last year, the report said. While employers’ contribution to workers’ monthly premiums increased by 5.4 percent over the past year, employees’ contributions went up 14.7 percent, the third straight year of double-digit increases, the report said. Employers still pay the lion’s share of healthcare costs, with an average contribution of $9,947 per worker. Employees paid an average of […]
Exposure to particulate matter has been recognized as a contributing factor to lung cancer development for some time, but a new study indicates inhalation of certain particulates can actually cause some genes to become reprogrammed, affecting both the development and the outcome of cancers and other diseases. ‘Recently, changes in gene programming due to a chemical transformation called methylation have been found in the blood and tissues of lung cancer patients,’ said investigator Andrea Baccarelli, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of applied biotechnology at the University of Milan. ‘We aimed at investigating whether exposure to particulate matter induced changes in DNA methylation in blood from healthy subjects who were exposed to high levels of particulate matter in a foundry facility.’ Researchers enrolled 63 healthy subjects who worked in a foundry near Milan, Italy. Blood DNA samples were collected on the morning of the first day of the work week, and again after three days of work. Comparing these samples revealed that significant changes had occurred in four genes associated with tumor suppression. ‘The changes were detectable after only three days of exposure to particulate matter, indicating that environmental factors need little time to cause gene […]
In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers found that a smidgen of purified ginger given in supplement form –equivalent to one-quarter teaspoon to one-half teaspoon of the spice each day — could reduce chemotherapy-related nausea by 40 percent on the first day of treatment when used in combination with traditional anti-nausea medications. The findings were released Thursday and will be presented later this month at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting. ‘If we can reduce nausea on day one, then patients tend to have reduced nausea throughout treatment,’ says lead study author Julie L. Ryan, of the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York. About 70 percent of cancer patients experience nausea during chemotherapy, although anti-emetic drugs often help prevent actual vomiting. In the new study, 644 people — mostly breast-cancer patients — were given supplements twice a day for six days, including the three days before and after they started chemotherapy. The patients took 0.5, 1, or 1.5 grams of ginger daily, which was divided into two doses, or they took identical placebo supplements that contained no ginger. Ginger-taking patients — regardless of daily dose — reported a greater […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
