Live Radio
North Bay Reports that deal with health and wellness in Sonoma County.
(January 22, 2011)
As the legal jeopardy associated with marijuana diminishes in California, increased attention is being focuses on it's healing properties. That was the subject of a symposium over the weekend in Ukiah, titled Cannabis as Medicine.
Dr. Jean TalleyrandThe weaving of hemp--a botanical cousin to cannabis--has been documented as far back as 8000 BC in Persia and Asia, reports Dr. Jean Talleyrand, and there's a written record of medicinal use for the herb in China that dates to 2700 BC.
The US government's official stance has long been that there is no medicinal value to be had from marijuana under any circumstances. But Talleyrand says that position was belied by the creation and sanction of a synthetic version that was branded "marinol."
(September 9, 2010)
One of the challenges in tailoring mental heath services to meet the needs of a particular cultural group, says Rosemary Milbrath, Director of the Sonoma County chapter of the National Association on Mental Illness, is first defining exactly who that population is.
One of the goals of mental health service providers, Milbrath adds, is developing early intervention measures to anticipate and counter some of the stresses that may cause problems later in life. She lauds the Redwood Empire Chinese Association for their proactive prorams in that area.
(August 18, 2010)
The federal health care bill, passed earlier this year, will also boost the fiscal well-begin of community clinics in Sonoma County, as well as the patients they serve.
Mary Szecsey, Executive Director of the five West County Health Centers, explains that the local clinics, and many of their counterparts across the county, have helped pioneer and refine the concept known as a “medical home” for patients.
This approach, developed in considerable part out of necessity, has proven to be both efficacious and cost-effective, Szecsey adds, which is why it is being more widely adopted.
(June 10, 2010)
Sonoma County’s ground-breaking website to monitor and guide the overall health of the local population is winning appreciative national attention, including recognition from US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sibelius (left).
The impressive county health website was a prototype for the county’s partners in the project, and Supervisor Brown says Sonoma County benefited as they shouldered most of the considerable costs involved in its design and development.
(June 8, 2010)
Medical marijuana can help treat the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, but research to find out how and why is being blocked by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Thousands of medical marijuana patients believe that it helps treat a number of conditions and symptoms, including PTSD, but there few scientific studies that can verify or quantify those benefits. MAPS is attempting to conduct just such a study in the United States, but Executive Director Rick Doblin says it's a rigorous process that faces a major roadblock at the end.
That additional review by the National Institute on Drub Abuse is a redundant step that Doblin contends is in place precisely to defeat any attempts to conduct meaningful research into the possible benefits of medical cannabis.
In contrast to the expensive and labor intensive MDMA-assisted psychotherapy treatment model discussed in the previous report, Rick Doblin says that medical marijuana is far more affordable now, and could become far cheaper if and when cannabis is legalized in California.
