Song in my head:  And the sign said, "Long-haired freaky people need not apply"...Arthur Thomas
 

ALTER-ABLED NEWS

Bush targets marijuana smokers 

 New super-strength marijuana readily available on US streets is prompting the White House to change direction in its war against drugs.
Research from the government-sponsored Marijuana Potency Project claims today's cannabis is more than twice as strong as in the mid-Eighties, leading to greater health risks for those smoking it at increasingly younger ages.
Now President George Bush, who had already promised a more aggressive campaign against substance abuse, has ordered that resources be allocated to fighting so-called 'soft' drugs instead of concentrating on harder forms, such as heroin and cocaine.
'We are working hard on education, but unfortunately a lot of today's parents are under the impression marijuana is harmless and that their kids trying it is some kind of rite of passage,' said Jennifer de Vallance, of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. ....Link

It may be a rite of passage that is a hell of a lot safer than drunken brawls and narcotic painkillers.

Activists cry foul when man loses his card for medical marijuana

Activists are crying foul after a Lane County judge revoked a Eugene man's medical marijuana card.Proponents of medicinal marijuana say the judge overstepped his authority Wednesday when he ordered Matthew Lee Hardy, 23, to surrender his card as a condition of his probation for having illegally grown the plant.
Hardy said the ruling means he must resort to narcotic painkillers to treat the chronic back injury he suffered five years ago in an automobile accident. He said he will appeal the ruling. LINK

 

Oregon Health Plan gets late OK

Federal approval will allow the trimmed version to surviveThe  In the 11th hour, state health officials received the green light from federal authorities to revamp the Oregon Health Plan on Aug. 1.The federal go-ahead allows Oregon to restore some benefits and trim others for low-income people covered by OHP Standard in order to make the plan stay within budget.OHP Standard is the arm of the Oregon Health Plan covering single and childless adults who don’t automatically qualify for Medicaid but have incomes below the poverty line.“We’re right down to the wire on this,” said Jim Edge, assistant administrator of the state Office of Medical Assistance Programs, to The Oregonian newspaper Friday, before word of the second part of the federal approval came through.

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Enrollment in OHP Standard has plummeted to about 50,000 during the past year, after budget problems forced the state to impose premiums, raise co-payments and trim benefits.To keep the health plan within its current two-year budget, health officials say, they must reduce enrollment further to 24,000 during the next 12 months.They halted new enrollment as of July 1.  Link

Once a progressive health plan for Oregonians, now the Oregon Health Plan is in shambles. 

 

"Working to achieve quality, affordable health care for all" visit Hope for Healthcare.

"Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) believes that access to high-quality health care is a right of all people and should be provided equitably as a public service rather than bought and sold as a commodity." visit Physicians for a National Health Program.