DC Rabbi Caps 30-Year Career With Marijuana

Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn spent his 30-year career educating others and helping to ease human suffering, leading Jewish congregations in Australia, Illinois, his hometown of Miami and New Jersey.

Now, he is practicing his faith in a different line of work: Kahn runs a dispensary for medical marijuana. Call it a mitzvah -- or one of God's commandments.

"From the Jewish perspective, nothing is more important than the concept of healing and bringing sufferers relief," said Kahn, 61.

"I was a congregational rabbi during the worst days of the AIDS epidemic and saw up-close and personal what people living with AIDS were dealing with and finding relief with medical marijuana," he said.

Just last month, Kahn and his wife, who works as a nurse at a long-term acute care hospital, opened the Takoma Wellness Center on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., where they are legally allowed to dispense medical marijuana.

So far, they only have three customers, who must meet state criteria and suffer from one of five diseases: HIV, AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis or glaucoma.

"The cannabis plant was created by God on the second day of creation when God created all the other plants, and touching this one isn't forbidden," Kahn said in a June interview with New Voices, a national magazine for Jewish college students.

Stephanie Reifkind Kahn, 59, has decorated the dispensary with "hamsas," a Jewish and Arabic symbol to ward off evil.

"They are Middle Eastern for healing and protection," she said. "It's something the Arab and Israeli communities agree upon. It is our shared connection."

The Kahns are able to offer their for-profit services under the district's Medical Marijuana Program that launched Aug. 1. All proceeds will go to HIV/AIDS charities, according to the Kahns.

Rabbi Kahn comes from the liberal stream of the Jewish faith, but he is not alone in his support of medical marijuana.

The Jewish Advocate just recently reported that the regional co-director of the Chabad of Eastern Massachusetts, which is part of the orthodox stream, had applied for a medical marijuana dispensary license, one of 181 in that state.

The rabbi, Chaim Prus of the Beth Menachem Chabad of Newton, told ABCNews.com that he would be unable to comment until the licensing process is complete.

In 2003, the Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution supporting medical marijuana and called its congregations to support legalization for medical purposes. But that nor any of the other Jewish denominations support widespread legalization of recreational marijuana.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia allow its regulated therapeutic use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California was the first, in 1996.

Congress had blocked legalization in the nation's capital until 2010 with a "very well-regulated law," Kahn said.

"We knew this could be done well and we know how to do this right," he said. "It's important to know the risks. But we are bringing healing and relief to people."

Legal risks are still real, because any use of marijuana is still banned under federal law, but Attorney General Eric Holder eased fears recently saying he would respect local, regulated programs.

A 2003 report by the Institute of Medicine found that cannabinoid drugs like marijuana, which has the active ingredient THC are effective for the treatment of pain, nausea control and appetite stimulation.

Source : http://abcnews.go.com/Health/rabbi-ties-jewish-faith-medical-marijuana-dispensary/story?id=20348883

India seeks to regulate its booming 'rent-a-womb' industry

1 of 8. Daniele Fabbricatore, 39, holds his week-old daughter Gabriella, who is kissed by her maternal grandmother Vanita Patel, outside the Akanksha IVF centre in Anand town, about 70 km (44 miles) south of the western Indian city of Ahmedabad August 26, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Mansi Thapliyal

By Nita Bhalla and Mansi Thapliyal

Mon Sep 30, 2013 4:28am EDT

ANAND, India, Sept 30 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Dressed in a green surgical gown and cap, British restaurateur Rekha Patel cradled her newborn daughter at the Akanksha clinic in northwestern India as her husband Daniel smiled warmly, peering in through a glass door.

"I can't believe we have our own child at last," said Patel, 42, gazing in wonderment at five-day-old Gabrielle.

"We are really grateful to our surrogate mother who managed to get pregnant and kept our little daughter healthy. She gave nine months of her life to give us a child."

It is the perfect promotion for India's booming surrogacy industry that sees thousands of infertile couples, many from overseas, hiring the wombs of local women to carry their embryos through to birth.

But a debate over whether the unregulated industry exploits poor women prompted authorities to draft a law that could make it tougher for foreigners seeking babies made in India.

"There is a need to regulate the sector," said Dr. Sudhir Ajja of Surrogacy India, a Mumbai-based fertility bank that has produced 295 surrogate babies - 90 percent for overseas clients and 40 percent for same-sex couples - since it opened in 2007.

"But if the new law tightens rules as suggested by the ministry of home affairs, which disallows surrogacy for same-sex couples and single parents, then it will clearly impact the industry and put off clients coming from overseas."

BIRTH OF A MARKET

India opened up to commercial surrogacy in 2002. It is among just a handful of countries - including Georgia, Russia, Thailand and Ukraine - and a few U.S. states where women can be paid to carry another's genetic child through a process of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and embryo transfer.

The low-cost technology, skilled doctors, scant bureaucracy and a plentiful supply of surrogates have made India a preferred destination for fertility tourism, attracting nationals from Britain, the United States, Australia and Japan, to name a few.

There are no official figures on how large the fertility industry is in India. A U.N.-backed study in July 2012 estimated the surrogacy business at more than $400 million a year, with over 3,000 fertility clinics across India.

The Akanksha clinic in Anand is the best-known at home and abroad, giving the small town in Gujarat state the reputation as India's "surrogacy capital".

"The surrogates in Anand have become empowered through giving this beautiful gift to others," says Akanksha's owner, IVF specialist Nayana Patel, who shot to fame in 2004 after she helped a patient have a baby by using the woman's mother - the child's grandmother - as a surrogate.

"With the money, they are able to buy a house, educate their children and even start a small business. These are things they could only dream of before. It's a win-win situation."

Patel, who appeared on U.S. celebrity Oprah Winfrey's talk show in 2007, has produced more than 500 surrogate babies - two-thirds of them for foreigners and people of Indian origin living in over 30 countries.

Charging couples like Rekha and Daniel an average of $25,000 to $30,000, a fraction of the cost in the United States, Patel pays her surrogates around 400,000 rupees ($6,500).

For 33-year-old Naina Patel, who gave birth to Gabrielle, the compensation outweighs the downside. The wife of an auto-rickshaw driver with three daughters of her own, she had to live in a hostel for nine months with 60 other surrogates so the clinic could monitor her health.

Like most surrogates, she kept her pregnancy a secret due to the social stigma in India's conservative society.

"I was happy to do it but it was not really out of choice because we needed the money," she said in a hospital bed as she recovered from the Caesarean operation for Gabrielle's birth.

"BABY FACTORIES"

India's surrogacy industry is vilified by women's rights groups who say fertility clinics are nothing more than "baby factories" for the rich. In the absence of regulation, they say many poor and uneducated women are lured by agents, hired by clinics, into signing contracts they do not fully understand.

In May last year, surrogate mother Premila Vaghela, 30, died days after delivering a child for an American couple at a clinic in Gujarat. It was recorded as an "accidental death" by police.

A recent government-funded study of 100 surrogate mothers in Delhi and Mumbai found there was "no fixed rule" related to compensation and no insurance for post-delivery healthcare. It cited cases where surrogates were implanted with embryos multiple times to raise the chances of success.

"In most of these cases, the surrogate mothers are being exploited," said Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research that conducted the study.

Moves to introduce a law - the Assisted Reproductive Technologies Bill (ART) - to protect surrogates, the children and the commissioning parents is long overdue, Kumari said.

Revised visa requirements introduced in July have already resulted in foreign same-sex couples and individuals being prohibited from surrogacy in India. The ART bill, expected to come before parliament next year, will tighten things further.

Under the current draft, all fertility clinics must be registered and monitored by a regulatory authority. Surrogates must be between 21 and 35 years old, they will be provided with insurance and notarised contracts must be signed between the women and the commissioning parents.

"Legislation should be there so that this wonderful procedure can be supervised and it is being done by the right people for the right people," said Akanksha's Patel.

"But more bureaucracy will make it difficult for everyone. It will not only mean less commissioning parents from overseas but it will also impact surrogates, who will lose out on the only chance they have to change their lives for the better."

(Editing by John O'Callaghan and Ron Popeski)

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Source : http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/healthNews/~3/kL-NBMCz36I/story01.htm

Why Johnny Depp and I see the world through blue-tinted spectacles

This syndrome is triggered by particular visual patterns, including printed text, he says. But it is still not fully understood, the most common theory being that sufferers have a hypersensitive visual cortex (part of the brain that processes visual information).

"In response to certain wavelengths of light, the visual cortex generates too much electrical activity," says Barnard. "This spills over into different areas of the brain, causing a variety of possible symptoms. Colour filters cut out problematic wavelengths and calm things down."

About 10 per cent of people with dyslexia are thought to have visual stress. It can also be found in those with autism, ADHD, migraine, photo-sensitive epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, as well as stroke victims.

I have none of the conditions listed above. But when Barnard showed me a particular arrangement of horizontal lines, it appeared to shimmer – a key indicator of visual stress.

After an eye examination to rule out other problems, I placed my head in a machine called an Intuitive Colorimeter. A paragraph of text was displayed and a spectrum of different coloured lights was applied. When it came to a particular shade of blue, things felt more comfortable.

I was given lenses of this colour, and held them in front of my eyes while reading from a screen. The symptoms disappeared. A pair of coloured glasses was made up, and I have worn them every day since (pictured). My visual stress has gone, no matter which screen I use.

It is impossible to explain why only certain screens affect me and why this particular shade of blue helps. Other sufferers benefit from different colours such as red or green.

Only about 80 optometrists in Britain have an Intuitive Colorimeter, which was developed by Prof Arnold Wilkins of the University of Essex. It is the only machine able to specify the precise tint of colour that sufferers need. A "colour consultation" fee is normally around £75 – in addition to the standard eye exam and prescription.

"This treatment is available on the NHS in Scotland, but generally not in England and Wales," says Prof Wilkins. "A successful double masked trial is required before it is fully accepted."

Dr Susan Blakeney, clinical adviser to the College of Optometrists, says there is "good evidence" behind the treatment. "We have guidelines for its use on our website," she adds.

And if it's good enough for Johnny Depp, it's good enough for me.

Visit ceriumoptical.com for more information

Source : http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568612/s/31dc8655/sc/19/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Chealth0C10A340A1220CWhy0EJohnny0EDepp0Eand0EI0Esee0Ethe0Eworld0Ethrough0Eblue0Etinted0Espectacles0Bhtml/story01.htm

Oliver Pritchett: I feel like a man on his wedding day

This week, fingers crossed, we may exchange contracts on the sale of our flat and the purchase of a house. Then we will have to agree on a date for "completion". What a charming word that is; like a dainty euphemism for something else entirely.

It occurs to me that the whole business is like an old-fashioned arranged marriage, conducted with stately decorum. The language is quaintly antique: we are the "vendor" and people don't come to look around the property, they "make an appointment to view". Meanwhile, the polite and soberly suited estate agents act as go-betweens, passing on questions and worries and delivering replies. Etiquette demands that the vendor and the buyer should not meet face to face until after the exchange of contracts. (Like the bride and groom on the wedding day.)

An "offer" is made and is graciously accepted. You feel everyone should give a low bow at this stage. Then, with a fanfare of form-filling, the lawyers make their entrance into the proceedings. Their role is to add a sense of mystery. They communicate with each other, but not with you. You are like an engaged couple, having to endure having vague acquaintances gossiping about you behind your back.

It's traditional for a surveyor to become involved. He effectively plays the part of the unsuitable best man at this wedding. You pay him a substantial sum of money to produce a report telling you the whole thing is a big mistake. And who are those people tutting in the background like a pair of sour spinster aunts? They are the mortgage companies, of course, and, in their opinion, this thing will never last. They wouldn't trust the groom farther than they could throw him and the bride's no better than she ought to be. They are having a great time.

No wonder, just now, I feel like a man on his wedding day – agitated and slightly sick.

Source : http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/564649/s/31df1c8c/sc/1/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Clifestyle0C10A340A0A70A0COliver0EPritchett0EI0Efeel0Elike0Ea0Eman0Eon0Ehis0Ewedding0Eday0Bhtml/story01.htm

Honky Tonk Clapham, bar and restaurant review

If you squint hard enough, it could almost be downtown New York. The façade is black with enormous neon lettering stamped across it, smokers in skinny jeans and leather loiter by the entrance and inside there are exposed brick walls, dimmed pendant lights and loud, loud music. But Honky Tonk is in fact a bustling new addition to the scene in Clapham, South London, an area that by day sees more buggies than any other part of the capital.

The menu is American diner. Cocktails, burgers and milkshakes feature heavily but there are alternatives such as mac n' cheese, hot dogs and salads. Chicken quesadillas and beef ribs, both starters, were delicious and refined (despite being transatlantic in size) and in this part of town you'd struggle to find a tastier burger than the Honky Tonk All American with its squishy brioche bun, juicy rarebreed beef pattie (though it could have been even pinker) and crisp rosemary fries.

There were just two small disappointments: the "not" fried chicken with apple slaw, which "really is good for you", according to the menu, could have done with a few green leaves (in addition to the chips, let's not get too pious) and they'd run out of salted caramel milkshakes. In fact, there weren't any milkshakes in the building. So it was passion fruit frozen yoghurt for pudding, much better for the arteries. Our waitress, who I'm guessing has completed a course in lip reading to communicate amid the thumping jazz, then persuaded us to finish off with a couple of Dark and Stormy cocktails.

The original branch of Honky Tonk, which opened last year in Chelsea, just off the "beach" stretch of the Fulham Road, is popular with pink shirt wearers in their twenties and girls who might possibly be on Made in Chelsea. It's glamorous, fun and slightly decadent, as in trays of Aperol spritz and rows of Sambuca shots. On a Monday night.

The Clapham division is in a more aesthetic spot on the edge of the Common, with better acoustics, a later license and much more space. But glancing around the tables, I wouldn't say it attracts quite the same crowd. I'm certain, though, that the owners are banking on the fact that it will do soon. This Old Town part of Clapham is undergoing a renaissance at the moment: the sparkly new Waitrose, directly opposite Honky Tonk, is testament to this.

On the walls of the restaurant are signs encouraging diners to take pictures of their food and post on Twitter; instructions that the couple on the table next to us were gamely following. Unfortunately my husband threatens to walk out if I so much as glance at my phone during dinner, so we headed off into the night with our ears ringing and the rest of the world oblivious to the enormous amounts we'd eaten.

16a Clapham Common South Side, London SW4 7AB. Three course dinner for two with wine is around £80. Cocktails are £8.50.

Source : http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/564649/s/31e2492d/sc/10/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cfoodanddrink0Crestaurants0C10A34450A10CHonky0ETonk0EClapham0Ebar0Eand0Erestaurant0Ereview0Bhtml/story01.htm

India seeks to regulate its booming 'rent-a-womb' industry

1 of 8. Daniele Fabbricatore, 39, holds his week-old daughter Gabriella, who is kissed by her maternal grandmother Vanita Patel, outside the Akanksha IVF centre in Anand town, about 70 km (44 miles) south of the western Indian city of Ahmedabad August 26, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Mansi Thapliyal

By Nita Bhalla and Mansi Thapliyal

Mon Sep 30, 2013 5:48am EDT

ANAND, India, Sept 30 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Dressed in a green surgical gown and cap, British restaurateur Rekha Patel cradled her newborn daughter at the Akanksha clinic in northwestern India as her husband Daniel smiled warmly, peering in through a glass door.

"I can't believe we have our own child at last," said Patel, 42, gazing in wonderment at five-day-old Gabrielle.

"We are really grateful to our surrogate mother who managed to get pregnant and kept our little daughter healthy. She gave nine months of her life to give us a child."

It is the perfect promotion for India's booming surrogacy industry that sees thousands of infertile couples, many from overseas, hiring the wombs of local women to carry their embryos through to birth.

But a debate over whether the unregulated industry exploits poor women prompted authorities to draft a law that could make it tougher for foreigners seeking babies made in India.

"There is a need to regulate the sector," said Dr. Sudhir Ajja of Surrogacy India, a Mumbai-based fertility bank that has produced 295 surrogate babies - 90 percent for overseas clients and 40 percent for same-sex couples - since it opened in 2007.

"But if the new law tightens rules as suggested by the ministry of home affairs, which disallows surrogacy for same-sex couples and single parents, then it will clearly impact the industry and put off clients coming from overseas."

BIRTH OF A MARKET

India opened up to commercial surrogacy in 2002. It is among just a handful of countries - including Georgia, Russia, Thailand and Ukraine - and a few U.S. states where women can be paid to carry another's genetic child through a process of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and embryo transfer.

The low-cost technology, skilled doctors, scant bureaucracy and a plentiful supply of surrogates have made India a preferred destination for fertility tourism, attracting nationals from Britain, the United States, Australia and Japan, to name a few.

There are no official figures on how large the fertility industry is in India. A U.N.-backed study in July 2012 estimated the surrogacy business at more than $400 million a year, with over 3,000 fertility clinics across India.

The Akanksha clinic in Anand is the best-known at home and abroad, giving the small town in Gujarat state the reputation as India's "surrogacy capital".

"The surrogates in Anand have become empowered through giving this beautiful gift to others," says Akanksha's owner, IVF specialist Nayana Patel, who shot to fame in 2004 after she helped a patient have a baby by using the woman's mother - the child's grandmother - as a surrogate.

"With the money, they are able to buy a house, educate their children and even start a small business. These are things they could only dream of before. It's a win-win situation."

Patel, who appeared on U.S. celebrity Oprah Winfrey's talk show in 2007, has produced more than 500 surrogate babies - two-thirds of them for foreigners and people of Indian origin living in over 30 countries.

Charging couples like Rekha and Daniel an average of $25,000 to $30,000, a fraction of the cost in the United States, Patel pays her surrogates around 400,000 rupees ($6,500).

For 33-year-old Naina Patel, who gave birth to Gabrielle, the compensation outweighs the downside. The wife of an auto-rickshaw driver with three daughters of her own, she had to live in a hostel for nine months with 60 other surrogates so the clinic could monitor her health.

Like most surrogates, she kept her pregnancy a secret due to the social stigma in India's conservative society.

"I was happy to do it but it was not really out of choice because we needed the money," she said in a hospital bed as she recovered from the Caesarean operation for Gabrielle's birth.

"BABY FACTORIES"

India's surrogacy industry is vilified by women's rights groups who say fertility clinics are nothing more than "baby factories" for the rich. In the absence of regulation, they say many poor and uneducated women are lured by agents, hired by clinics, into signing contracts they do not fully understand.

In May last year, surrogate mother Premila Vaghela, 30, died days after delivering a child for an American couple at a clinic in Gujarat. It was recorded as an "accidental death" by police.

A recent government-funded study of 100 surrogate mothers in Delhi and Mumbai found there was "no fixed rule" related to compensation and no insurance for post-delivery healthcare. It cited cases where surrogates were implanted with embryos multiple times to raise the chances of success.

"In most of these cases, the surrogate mothers are being exploited," said Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research that conducted the study.

Moves to introduce a law - the Assisted Reproductive Technologies Bill (ART) - to protect surrogates, the children and the commissioning parents is long overdue, Kumari said.

Revised visa requirements introduced in July have already resulted in foreign same-sex couples and individuals being prohibited from surrogacy in India. The ART bill, expected to come before parliament next year, will tighten things further.

Under the current draft, all fertility clinics must be registered and monitored by a regulatory authority. Surrogates must be between 21 and 35 years old, they will be provided with insurance and notarized contracts must be signed between the women and the commissioning parents.

"Legislation should be there so that this wonderful procedure can be supervised and it is being done by the right people for the right people," said Akanksha's Patel.

"But more bureaucracy will make it difficult for everyone. It will not only mean less commissioning parents from overseas but it will also impact surrogates, who will lose out on the only chance they have to change their lives for the better."

(Editing by John O'Callaghan and Ron Popeski)

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Source : http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/lifestyle/~3/x0btAcecOJI/story01.htm

South Carolinians raising millions to protect centuries-old Angel Oak

1 of 6. Vistitors check out the Angel Oak tree in Charleston, South Carolina September 24, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Randall Hill

By Harriet McLeod

JOHNS ISLAND, South Carolina | Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:29pm EDT

JOHNS ISLAND, South Carolina (Reuters) - A group trying to preserve the centuries-old Angel Oak near Charleston, South Carolina, is racing against a fall deadline to raise the $3.6 million needed to protect surrounding land from development that environmentalists contend would harm the tree.

The Angel Oak, with a massive canopy stretching more than 1,889 square yards (1,580 square meters) and trunk of more than 25 feet in circumference, has drawn generations of visitors to Johns Island near historic Charleston.

In less than two months, the Lowcountry Open Land Trust has collected almost $700,000 from more than 9,000 donors. With local governments contributing additional money toward the purchase, the land trust still has about $500,000 left to raise by November 21.

Many donations were dropped into jars at local Piggly Wiggly grocery stores, Director Elizabeth Hagood said, but some funds have come from as far away as South America.

"It's amazing the connection people have to this tree," she said. "It's very passionate."

Named for 19th-century rice and cotton plantation owner Justus Angel, the oak stands 65 feet high and is estimated to be between 400 and 500 years old.

While it is not the oldest or the biggest tree in South Carolina's low country, the grandeur of its weighty branches draws about 36,000 people from around the world each year, said Cam Patterson, director of special facilities for the city of Charleston, which owns the Angel Oak and the small park around it.

The tree also has historical significance, Hagood said.

"All during segregation, the Angel Oak was the only public place on Johns Island that was not segregated," she said. "People didn't have air conditioning then, and it was a cool place for a church picnic."

The fundraising effort is part of a fight that began in 2008, when about 40 acres of forest land around the tree and park were slated to become a large commercial and residential village.

Development pressure is strong on the once-rural island, whose roads lead to multimillion-dollar beach houses, Hagood said.

'MY SANCTUARY'

Samantha Siegel, a 31-year-old waitress, said she decided to try to stop the building plan when it appeared to threaten the tree she visited each day on her way to work.

"This was my happy place, my sanctuary, the only place that ever felt like home," she said.

Siegel co-founded a nonprofit organization called Save the Angel Oak, began a petition drive against the development and called on city leaders and environmental groups to take action.

"Nobody really listened to me at first," she recalled as she sat on a bench near the tree last week. "They all said it's a done deal, there's nothing we can do, good luck. It was the penniless nature girl versus the rich developers."

Her nonprofit and the Charleston-based Coastal Conservation League sued to block developer Robert DeMoura's application to fill wetlands for the project. A botanist with the conservation group said filling the wetlands and cutting surrounding forest would alter the water table and disturb the oak's shallow, wide-spreading root system.

As part of a settlement last spring after the property fell into foreclosure, the bank that took ownership, Coastal Federal Credit Union, agreed to let a local trust buy 17 acres of land near the Angel Oak, said Dana Beach, executive director of the Coastal Conservation League.

Charleston County voted in July to contribute $2.4 million toward the purchase. The city of Charleston and the nearby beach islands of Seabrook and Kiawah have also donated.

The land trust learned late last week that it has until November 21 to secure the remainder of the money, after the bank granted an extension from the original deadline of Monday.

Hagood said the land trust also hoped to conserve another 17 acres that the bank has optioned to a new developer but has not yet begun raising money for that effort. The trust's planned Angel Oak Preserve would be a forested park and site of educational programs, she said.

"The Angel Oak is emblematic of the history of the Lowcountry," Beach said. "It takes constant, persistent and long-term effort to preserve this landscape."

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Lisa Von Ahn)

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Source : http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/lifestyle/~3/Ys51Lf-0W0w/story01.htm

Roche breast cancer drug gets U.S. pre-surgery approval

Mon Sep 30, 2013 12:33pm EDT

(Reuters) - U.S. health regulators expanded the approval of Roche Holding AG's breast cancer drug Perjeta and will now allow its use to help shrink tumors prior to surgery, the Food and Drug Administration said on Monday.

The decision followed a 13-0 vote by an FDA advisory panel earlier this month in favor of the expanded approval.

Perjeta was originally approved in 2012 to treat patients with advanced or late-stage HER2-positive breast cancer. It can now be used prior to surgery in patients with HER2-positive, locally advanced, inflammatory or early-stage breast cancer who are at high risk of having their cancer return or spread, the agency said.

"By making effective therapies available to high-risk patients in the earliest disease setting, we may delay or prevent cancer recurrences," Dr. Richard Pazdur, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement.

Under the expanded approval, Perjeta, known chemically as pertuzumab, would be used in combination with Roche's older breast cancer drug Herceptin and chemotherapy prior to surgery.

Herceptin has long been used to treat HER2-positive breast cancer to reduce the risk of disease recurrence. About 20 percent of breast cancers have an abundance of the HER2 protein and tend to be aggressive, faster growing cancers.

Following surgery, patients who had been treated with Perjeta should continue to take Herceptin for a year, the FDA said.

(Reporting by Bill Berkrot; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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Source : http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/healthNews/~3/IgSW5RAsAn4/story01.htm

Hundreds of under 11s sent to A&E due to drugs or alcohol

The figures were disclosed in a Freedom of Information request to BBC Radio 5 Live and reveal a concerning trend about young people and alcohol, after more than 6,500 under 18s were taken into accident and emergency because of drinking alcohol in a year.

Around 20,000 children a year use NHS services to help them deal with addiction to substances, with around a third using them because of alcohol.

Morten Draegebo, an Accident and Emergency consultant at Cross House Hospital in Kilmarnock, will tell the show today: "The typical patient may be found in a field. They often need to hide away from any sort of adults in the area so they're picked up by the Ambulance Service."

In the last five years hospitals dealt with almost 48,000 incidents involving children admitted after using drink or drugs, with more girls than boys being taken to hospital.

Public Health England says a quarter of under age drinkers consume the equivalent of seven pints of lager a week.

Official advice from chief medical officers says children should not be given alcohol under they are 16, and should only be given to older teenagers under supervision of a parent or carer.

Source : http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568612/s/31dc864e/sc/38/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Chealth0Chealthnews0C10A3433340CHundreds0Eof0Eunder0E11s0Esent0Eto0EAandE0Edue0Eto0Edrugs0Eor0Ealcohol0Bhtml/story01.htm

DC Rabbi Caps 30-Year Career With Marijuana

Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn spent his 30-year career educating others and helping to ease human suffering, leading Jewish congregations in Australia, Illinois, his hometown of Miami and New Jersey.

Now, he is practicing his faith in a different line of work: Kahn runs a dispensary for medical marijuana. Call it a mitzvah -- or one of God's commandments.

"From the Jewish perspective, nothing is more important than the concept of healing and bringing sufferers relief," said Kahn, 61.

"I was a congregational rabbi during the worst days of the AIDS epidemic and saw up-close and personal what people living with AIDS were dealing with and finding relief with medical marijuana," he said.

Just last month, Kahn and his wife, who works as a nurse at a long-term acute care hospital, opened the Takoma Wellness Center on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., where they are legally allowed to dispense medical marijuana.

So far, they only have three customers, who must meet state criteria and suffer from one of five diseases: HIV, AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis or glaucoma.

"The cannabis plant was created by God on the second day of creation when God created all the other plants, and touching this one isn't forbidden," Kahn said in a June interview with New Voices, a national magazine for Jewish college students.

Stephanie Reifkind Kahn, 59, has decorated the dispensary with "hamsas," a Jewish and Arabic symbol to ward off evil.

"They are Middle Eastern for healing and protection," she said. "It's something the Arab and Israeli communities agree upon. It is our shared connection."

The Kahns are able to offer their for-profit services under the district's Medical Marijuana Program that launched Aug. 1. All proceeds will go to HIV/AIDS charities, according to the Kahns.

Rabbi Kahn comes from the liberal stream of the Jewish faith, but he is not alone in his support of medical marijuana.

The Jewish Advocate just recently reported that the regional co-director of the Chabad of Eastern Massachusetts, which is part of the orthodox stream, had applied for a medical marijuana dispensary license, one of 181 in that state.

The rabbi, Chaim Prus of the Beth Menachem Chabad of Newton, told ABCNews.com that he would be unable to comment until the licensing process is complete.

In 2003, the Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution supporting medical marijuana and called its congregations to support legalization for medical purposes. But that nor any of the other Jewish denominations support widespread legalization of recreational marijuana.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia allow its regulated therapeutic use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California was the first, in 1996.

Congress had blocked legalization in the nation's capital until 2010 with a "very well-regulated law," Kahn said.

"We knew this could be done well and we know how to do this right," he said. "It's important to know the risks. But we are bringing healing and relief to people."

Legal risks are still real, because any use of marijuana is still banned under federal law, but Attorney General Eric Holder eased fears recently saying he would respect local, regulated programs.

A 2003 report by the Institute of Medicine found that cannabinoid drugs like marijuana, which has the active ingredient THC are effective for the treatment of pain, nausea control and appetite stimulation.

Source : http://abcnews.go.com/Health/rabbi-ties-jewish-faith-medical-marijuana-dispensary/story?id=20348883

DC Rabbi Caps 30-Year Career With Marijuana

Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn spent his 30-year career educating others and helping to ease human suffering, leading Jewish congregations in Australia, Illinois, his hometown of Miami and New Jersey.

Now, he is practicing his faith in a different line of work: Kahn runs a dispensary for medical marijuana. Call it a mitzvah -- or one of God's commandments.

"From the Jewish perspective, nothing is more important than the concept of healing and bringing sufferers relief," said Kahn, 61.

"I was a congregational rabbi during the worst days of the AIDS epidemic and saw up-close and personal what people living with AIDS were dealing with and finding relief with medical marijuana," he said.

Just last month, Kahn and his wife, who works as a nurse at a long-term acute care hospital, opened the Takoma Wellness Center on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., where they are legally allowed to dispense medical marijuana.

So far, they only have three customers, who must meet state criteria and suffer from one of five diseases: HIV, AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis or glaucoma.

"The cannabis plant was created by God on the second day of creation when God created all the other plants, and touching this one isn't forbidden," Kahn said in a June interview with New Voices, a national magazine for Jewish college students.

Stephanie Reifkind Kahn, 59, has decorated the dispensary with "hamsas," a Jewish and Arabic symbol to ward off evil.

"They are Middle Eastern for healing and protection," she said. "It's something the Arab and Israeli communities agree upon. It is our shared connection."

The Kahns are able to offer their for-profit services under the district's Medical Marijuana Program that launched Aug. 1. All proceeds will go to HIV/AIDS charities, according to the Kahns.

Rabbi Kahn comes from the liberal stream of the Jewish faith, but he is not alone in his support of medical marijuana.

The Jewish Advocate just recently reported that the regional co-director of the Chabad of Eastern Massachusetts, which is part of the orthodox stream, had applied for a medical marijuana dispensary license, one of 181 in that state.

The rabbi, Chaim Prus of the Beth Menachem Chabad of Newton, told ABCNews.com that he would be unable to comment until the licensing process is complete.

In 2003, the Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution supporting medical marijuana and called its congregations to support legalization for medical purposes. But that nor any of the other Jewish denominations support widespread legalization of recreational marijuana.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia allow its regulated therapeutic use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California was the first, in 1996.

Congress had blocked legalization in the nation's capital until 2010 with a "very well-regulated law," Kahn said.

"We knew this could be done well and we know how to do this right," he said. "It's important to know the risks. But we are bringing healing and relief to people."

Legal risks are still real, because any use of marijuana is still banned under federal law, but Attorney General Eric Holder eased fears recently saying he would respect local, regulated programs.

A 2003 report by the Institute of Medicine found that cannabinoid drugs like marijuana, which has the active ingredient THC are effective for the treatment of pain, nausea control and appetite stimulation.

Source : http://abcnews.go.com/Health/rabbi-ties-jewish-faith-medical-marijuana-dispensary/story?id=20348883

DC Rabbi Caps 30-Year Career With Marijuana

Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn spent his 30-year career educating others and helping to ease human suffering, leading Jewish congregations in Australia, Illinois, his hometown of Miami and New Jersey.

Now, he is practicing his faith in a different line of work: Kahn runs a dispensary for medical marijuana. Call it a mitzvah -- or one of God's commandments.

"From the Jewish perspective, nothing is more important than the concept of healing and bringing sufferers relief," said Kahn, 61.

"I was a congregational rabbi during the worst days of the AIDS epidemic and saw up-close and personal what people living with AIDS were dealing with and finding relief with medical marijuana," he said.

Just last month, Kahn and his wife, who works as a nurse at a long-term acute care hospital, opened the Takoma Wellness Center on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., where they are legally allowed to dispense medical marijuana.

So far, they only have three customers, who must meet state criteria and suffer from one of five diseases: HIV, AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis or glaucoma.

"The cannabis plant was created by God on the second day of creation when God created all the other plants, and touching this one isn't forbidden," Kahn said in a June interview with New Voices, a national magazine for Jewish college students.

Stephanie Reifkind Kahn, 59, has decorated the dispensary with "hamsas," a Jewish and Arabic symbol to ward off evil.

"They are Middle Eastern for healing and protection," she said. "It's something the Arab and Israeli communities agree upon. It is our shared connection."

The Kahns are able to offer their for-profit services under the district's Medical Marijuana Program that launched Aug. 1. All proceeds will go to HIV/AIDS charities, according to the Kahns.

Rabbi Kahn comes from the liberal stream of the Jewish faith, but he is not alone in his support of medical marijuana.

The Jewish Advocate just recently reported that the regional co-director of the Chabad of Eastern Massachusetts, which is part of the orthodox stream, had applied for a medical marijuana dispensary license, one of 181 in that state.

The rabbi, Chaim Prus of the Beth Menachem Chabad of Newton, told ABCNews.com that he would be unable to comment until the licensing process is complete.

In 2003, the Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution supporting medical marijuana and called its congregations to support legalization for medical purposes. But that nor any of the other Jewish denominations support widespread legalization of recreational marijuana.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia allow its regulated therapeutic use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California was the first, in 1996.

Congress had blocked legalization in the nation's capital until 2010 with a "very well-regulated law," Kahn said.

"We knew this could be done well and we know how to do this right," he said. "It's important to know the risks. But we are bringing healing and relief to people."

Legal risks are still real, because any use of marijuana is still banned under federal law, but Attorney General Eric Holder eased fears recently saying he would respect local, regulated programs.

A 2003 report by the Institute of Medicine found that cannabinoid drugs like marijuana, which has the active ingredient THC are effective for the treatment of pain, nausea control and appetite stimulation.

Source : http://abcnews.go.com/Health/rabbi-ties-jewish-faith-medical-marijuana-dispensary/story?id=20348883

DC Rabbi Caps 30-Year Career With Marijuana

Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn spent his 30-year career educating others and helping to ease human suffering, leading Jewish congregations in Australia, Illinois, his hometown of Miami and New Jersey.

Now, he is practicing his faith in a different line of work: Kahn runs a dispensary for medical marijuana. Call it a mitzvah -- or one of God's commandments.

"From the Jewish perspective, nothing is more important than the concept of healing and bringing sufferers relief," said Kahn, 61.

"I was a congregational rabbi during the worst days of the AIDS epidemic and saw up-close and personal what people living with AIDS were dealing with and finding relief with medical marijuana," he said.

Just last month, Kahn and his wife, who works as a nurse at a long-term acute care hospital, opened the Takoma Wellness Center on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., where they are legally allowed to dispense medical marijuana.

So far, they only have three customers, who must meet state criteria and suffer from one of five diseases: HIV, AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis or glaucoma.

"The cannabis plant was created by God on the second day of creation when God created all the other plants, and touching this one isn't forbidden," Kahn said in a June interview with New Voices, a national magazine for Jewish college students.

Stephanie Reifkind Kahn, 59, has decorated the dispensary with "hamsas," a Jewish and Arabic symbol to ward off evil.

"They are Middle Eastern for healing and protection," she said. "It's something the Arab and Israeli communities agree upon. It is our shared connection."

The Kahns are able to offer their for-profit services under the district's Medical Marijuana Program that launched Aug. 1. All proceeds will go to HIV/AIDS charities, according to the Kahns.

Rabbi Kahn comes from the liberal stream of the Jewish faith, but he is not alone in his support of medical marijuana.

The Jewish Advocate just recently reported that the regional co-director of the Chabad of Eastern Massachusetts, which is part of the orthodox stream, had applied for a medical marijuana dispensary license, one of 181 in that state.

The rabbi, Chaim Prus of the Beth Menachem Chabad of Newton, told ABCNews.com that he would be unable to comment until the licensing process is complete.

In 2003, the Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution supporting medical marijuana and called its congregations to support legalization for medical purposes. But that nor any of the other Jewish denominations support widespread legalization of recreational marijuana.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia allow its regulated therapeutic use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California was the first, in 1996.

Congress had blocked legalization in the nation's capital until 2010 with a "very well-regulated law," Kahn said.

"We knew this could be done well and we know how to do this right," he said. "It's important to know the risks. But we are bringing healing and relief to people."

Legal risks are still real, because any use of marijuana is still banned under federal law, but Attorney General Eric Holder eased fears recently saying he would respect local, regulated programs.

A 2003 report by the Institute of Medicine found that cannabinoid drugs like marijuana, which has the active ingredient THC are effective for the treatment of pain, nausea control and appetite stimulation.

Source : http://abcnews.go.com/Health/rabbi-ties-jewish-faith-medical-marijuana-dispensary/story?id=20348883

DC Rabbi Caps 30-Year Career With Marijuana

Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn spent his 30-year career educating others and helping to ease human suffering, leading Jewish congregations in Australia, Illinois, his hometown of Miami and New Jersey.

Now, he is practicing his faith in a different line of work: Kahn runs a dispensary for medical marijuana. Call it a mitzvah -- or one of God's commandments.

"From the Jewish perspective, nothing is more important than the concept of healing and bringing sufferers relief," said Kahn, 61.

"I was a congregational rabbi during the worst days of the AIDS epidemic and saw up-close and personal what people living with AIDS were dealing with and finding relief with medical marijuana," he said.

Just last month, Kahn and his wife, who works as a nurse at a long-term acute care hospital, opened the Takoma Wellness Center on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., where they are legally allowed to dispense medical marijuana.

So far, they only have three customers, who must meet state criteria and suffer from one of five diseases: HIV, AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis or glaucoma.

"The cannabis plant was created by God on the second day of creation when God created all the other plants, and touching this one isn't forbidden," Kahn said in a June interview with New Voices, a national magazine for Jewish college students.

Stephanie Reifkind Kahn, 59, has decorated the dispensary with "hamsas," a Jewish and Arabic symbol to ward off evil.

"They are Middle Eastern for healing and protection," she said. "It's something the Arab and Israeli communities agree upon. It is our shared connection."

The Kahns are able to offer their for-profit services under the district's Medical Marijuana Program that launched Aug. 1. All proceeds will go to HIV/AIDS charities, according to the Kahns.

Rabbi Kahn comes from the liberal stream of the Jewish faith, but he is not alone in his support of medical marijuana.

The Jewish Advocate just recently reported that the regional co-director of the Chabad of Eastern Massachusetts, which is part of the orthodox stream, had applied for a medical marijuana dispensary license, one of 181 in that state.

The rabbi, Chaim Prus of the Beth Menachem Chabad of Newton, told ABCNews.com that he would be unable to comment until the licensing process is complete.

In 2003, the Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution supporting medical marijuana and called its congregations to support legalization for medical purposes. But that nor any of the other Jewish denominations support widespread legalization of recreational marijuana.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia allow its regulated therapeutic use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California was the first, in 1996.

Congress had blocked legalization in the nation's capital until 2010 with a "very well-regulated law," Kahn said.

"We knew this could be done well and we know how to do this right," he said. "It's important to know the risks. But we are bringing healing and relief to people."

Legal risks are still real, because any use of marijuana is still banned under federal law, but Attorney General Eric Holder eased fears recently saying he would respect local, regulated programs.

A 2003 report by the Institute of Medicine found that cannabinoid drugs like marijuana, which has the active ingredient THC are effective for the treatment of pain, nausea control and appetite stimulation.

Source : http://abcnews.go.com/Health/rabbi-ties-jewish-faith-medical-marijuana-dispensary/story?id=20348883

DC Rabbi Caps 30-Year Career With Marijuana

Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn spent his 30-year career educating others and helping to ease human suffering, leading Jewish congregations in Australia, Illinois, his hometown of Miami and New Jersey.

Now, he is practicing his faith in a different line of work: Kahn runs a dispensary for medical marijuana. Call it a mitzvah -- or one of God's commandments.

"From the Jewish perspective, nothing is more important than the concept of healing and bringing sufferers relief," said Kahn, 61.

"I was a congregational rabbi during the worst days of the AIDS epidemic and saw up-close and personal what people living with AIDS were dealing with and finding relief with medical marijuana," he said.

Just last month, Kahn and his wife, who works as a nurse at a long-term acute care hospital, opened the Takoma Wellness Center on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., where they are legally allowed to dispense medical marijuana.

So far, they only have three customers, who must meet state criteria and suffer from one of five diseases: HIV, AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis or glaucoma.

"The cannabis plant was created by God on the second day of creation when God created all the other plants, and touching this one isn't forbidden," Kahn said in a June interview with New Voices, a national magazine for Jewish college students.

Stephanie Reifkind Kahn, 59, has decorated the dispensary with "hamsas," a Jewish and Arabic symbol to ward off evil.

"They are Middle Eastern for healing and protection," she said. "It's something the Arab and Israeli communities agree upon. It is our shared connection."

The Kahns are able to offer their for-profit services under the district's Medical Marijuana Program that launched Aug. 1. All proceeds will go to HIV/AIDS charities, according to the Kahns.

Rabbi Kahn comes from the liberal stream of the Jewish faith, but he is not alone in his support of medical marijuana.

The Jewish Advocate just recently reported that the regional co-director of the Chabad of Eastern Massachusetts, which is part of the orthodox stream, had applied for a medical marijuana dispensary license, one of 181 in that state.

The rabbi, Chaim Prus of the Beth Menachem Chabad of Newton, told ABCNews.com that he would be unable to comment until the licensing process is complete.

In 2003, the Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution supporting medical marijuana and called its congregations to support legalization for medical purposes. But that nor any of the other Jewish denominations support widespread legalization of recreational marijuana.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia allow its regulated therapeutic use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California was the first, in 1996.

Congress had blocked legalization in the nation's capital until 2010 with a "very well-regulated law," Kahn said.

"We knew this could be done well and we know how to do this right," he said. "It's important to know the risks. But we are bringing healing and relief to people."

Legal risks are still real, because any use of marijuana is still banned under federal law, but Attorney General Eric Holder eased fears recently saying he would respect local, regulated programs.

A 2003 report by the Institute of Medicine found that cannabinoid drugs like marijuana, which has the active ingredient THC are effective for the treatment of pain, nausea control and appetite stimulation.

Source : http://abcnews.go.com/Health/rabbi-ties-jewish-faith-medical-marijuana-dispensary/story?id=20348883

DC Rabbi Caps 30-Year Career With Marijuana

Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn spent his 30-year career educating others and helping to ease human suffering, leading Jewish congregations in Australia, Illinois, his hometown of Miami and New Jersey.

Now, he is practicing his faith in a different line of work: Kahn runs a dispensary for medical marijuana. Call it a mitzvah -- or one of God's commandments.

"From the Jewish perspective, nothing is more important than the concept of healing and bringing sufferers relief," said Kahn, 61.

"I was a congregational rabbi during the worst days of the AIDS epidemic and saw up-close and personal what people living with AIDS were dealing with and finding relief with medical marijuana," he said.

Just last month, Kahn and his wife, who works as a nurse at a long-term acute care hospital, opened the Takoma Wellness Center on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., where they are legally allowed to dispense medical marijuana.

So far, they only have three customers, who must meet state criteria and suffer from one of five diseases: HIV, AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis or glaucoma.

"The cannabis plant was created by God on the second day of creation when God created all the other plants, and touching this one isn't forbidden," Kahn said in a June interview with New Voices, a national magazine for Jewish college students.

Stephanie Reifkind Kahn, 59, has decorated the dispensary with "hamsas," a Jewish and Arabic symbol to ward off evil.

"They are Middle Eastern for healing and protection," she said. "It's something the Arab and Israeli communities agree upon. It is our shared connection."

The Kahns are able to offer their for-profit services under the district's Medical Marijuana Program that launched Aug. 1. All proceeds will go to HIV/AIDS charities, according to the Kahns.

Rabbi Kahn comes from the liberal stream of the Jewish faith, but he is not alone in his support of medical marijuana.

The Jewish Advocate just recently reported that the regional co-director of the Chabad of Eastern Massachusetts, which is part of the orthodox stream, had applied for a medical marijuana dispensary license, one of 181 in that state.

The rabbi, Chaim Prus of the Beth Menachem Chabad of Newton, told ABCNews.com that he would be unable to comment until the licensing process is complete.

In 2003, the Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution supporting medical marijuana and called its congregations to support legalization for medical purposes. But that nor any of the other Jewish denominations support widespread legalization of recreational marijuana.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia allow its regulated therapeutic use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California was the first, in 1996.

Congress had blocked legalization in the nation's capital until 2010 with a "very well-regulated law," Kahn said.

"We knew this could be done well and we know how to do this right," he said. "It's important to know the risks. But we are bringing healing and relief to people."

Legal risks are still real, because any use of marijuana is still banned under federal law, but Attorney General Eric Holder eased fears recently saying he would respect local, regulated programs.

A 2003 report by the Institute of Medicine found that cannabinoid drugs like marijuana, which has the active ingredient THC are effective for the treatment of pain, nausea control and appetite stimulation.

Source : http://abcnews.go.com/Health/rabbi-ties-jewish-faith-medical-marijuana-dispensary/story?id=20348883

HS Football Team Cancels Season After Player's Death

A New York high school football team has voted to cancel its season after the death of player who suffered a helmet-to-helmet collision during a game earlier this month.

Damon Janes, 16, died three days after suffering an injury and losing consciousness during a football game in Portville, N.Y. His exact cause of death has not been made public.

A week after his death on Sept. 16, Janes' teammates on the Westfield-Brocton Wolverines varsity team voted to end their football season immediately. The Westfield Academy and Central School Board of Education then unanimously approved a recommendation by the superintendent to cancel the remaining season.

Janes' death has shed more light on the ongoing debate about the dangers football players face on the field. Janes is at least the fifth high school player to die this year after on-field injuries. According to a recent study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, an average of 12 high school and college players die annually.

Jeff Rabey, the superintendent of the Section VI division in New York in which the Westfield-Brocton Wolverines play, said the coaches in the area extensively reviewed their tackling instruction after Janes' death and that teams of players younger than high school age have extensively adopted the "heads up" initiative that promotes tackling in a specific form to avoid excessive injury.

"It is, you know, significant," said Rabey of the decision to end the season early. "Even though it is difficult decision, it is the right decision, especially because it was fostered in conversations between players and coaches."

In the wake of the cancelled season, some of Janes' teammates are explaining why they felt they had to end the season.

Sam Villafrank, whose son, Joey, played on the team, was watching from the sidelines during the Portville game and said he was concerned that some of the rough play was not penalized.

"There was a lot of hitting after the play was over," said Villafrank. "My son ended up in a fistfight in [connection with] a hit well after the play was over."

Degenerative Disease Found in 34 NFL Football Players

Joey Villafrank, 17, who has played football since the third grade, said he voted to end the season because "the game is no longer safe because the referees no longer throw flags."

School officials did not immediately return phone calls for comment.

In the small New York communities of Brocton and Westfield, a memorial and benefits have been planned to help Janes' family. But in addition to planning spaghetti dinners and silent auctions, the community is coming to grips with Janes' death and what it could mean for future football seasons.

Julie Fortner, owner Nickel Plate Depot, is hosting a spaghetti dinner and large benefit to raise money for Janes' family. She said reaction to cancelling the football season has been mixed.

"We're a super-close community. Everyone knows everyone here," said Fortner. "We get mixed reactions here. [Some say] they shouldn't end the season, but it's understandable."

Fortner said parents were also talking about having their children wear Noggin headgear, a protective cap worn under the helmet that claims to help cushion the blows during football tackles.

Football Head Injuries Increase Amid Bigger, Faster Players

"Parents are really pushing for that," said Fortner. "But they're concerned [that] Damon hurt his head before [the game] maybe. They want CAT scans available so it wouldn't happen."

The Noggin company has designed a cap with Janes' initials and jersey number that will be sold to benefit the Janes family.

Head injuries in football have come under increased scrutiny in recent years as concussions have been shown to possibly result in brain damage later on.

In August, the National Football League agreed pay $765 million to retired football players who sued the league over head injuries that they attributed to their time playing pro football.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Source : http://abcnews.go.com/Health/high-school-football-team-cancels-season-players-death/story?id=20398242

DC Rabbi Caps 30-Year Career With Marijuana

Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn spent his 30-year career educating others and helping to ease human suffering, leading Jewish congregations in Australia, Illinois, his hometown of Miami and New Jersey.

Now, he is practicing his faith in a different line of work: Kahn runs a dispensary for medical marijuana. Call it a mitzvah -- or one of God's commandments.

"From the Jewish perspective, nothing is more important than the concept of healing and bringing sufferers relief," said Kahn, 61.

"I was a congregational rabbi during the worst days of the AIDS epidemic and saw up-close and personal what people living with AIDS were dealing with and finding relief with medical marijuana," he said.

Just last month, Kahn and his wife, who works as a nurse at a long-term acute care hospital, opened the Takoma Wellness Center on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., where they are legally allowed to dispense medical marijuana.

So far, they only have three customers, who must meet state criteria and suffer from one of five diseases: HIV, AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis or glaucoma.

"The cannabis plant was created by God on the second day of creation when God created all the other plants, and touching this one isn't forbidden," Kahn said in a June interview with New Voices, a national magazine for Jewish college students.

Stephanie Reifkind Kahn, 59, has decorated the dispensary with "hamsas," a Jewish and Arabic symbol to ward off evil.

"They are Middle Eastern for healing and protection," she said. "It's something the Arab and Israeli communities agree upon. It is our shared connection."

The Kahns are able to offer their for-profit services under the district's Medical Marijuana Program that launched Aug. 1. All proceeds will go to HIV/AIDS charities, according to the Kahns.

Rabbi Kahn comes from the liberal stream of the Jewish faith, but he is not alone in his support of medical marijuana.

The Jewish Advocate just recently reported that the regional co-director of the Chabad of Eastern Massachusetts, which is part of the orthodox stream, had applied for a medical marijuana dispensary license, one of 181 in that state.

The rabbi, Chaim Prus of the Beth Menachem Chabad of Newton, told ABCNews.com that he would be unable to comment until the licensing process is complete.

In 2003, the Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution supporting medical marijuana and called its congregations to support legalization for medical purposes. But that nor any of the other Jewish denominations support widespread legalization of recreational marijuana.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia allow its regulated therapeutic use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California was the first, in 1996.

Congress had blocked legalization in the nation's capital until 2010 with a "very well-regulated law," Kahn said.

"We knew this could be done well and we know how to do this right," he said. "It's important to know the risks. But we are bringing healing and relief to people."

Legal risks are still real, because any use of marijuana is still banned under federal law, but Attorney General Eric Holder eased fears recently saying he would respect local, regulated programs.

A 2003 report by the Institute of Medicine found that cannabinoid drugs like marijuana, which has the active ingredient THC are effective for the treatment of pain, nausea control and appetite stimulation.

Source : http://abcnews.go.com/Health/rabbi-ties-jewish-faith-medical-marijuana-dispensary/story?id=20348883

Universities warned of 'explosion' in use of smart drugs

Barbara Sahakian, professor of clinical neuropsychology at Cambridge, said there had been an "explosion" in the number of students taking Modafinil in recent years.

"A lot of young people are purchasing these drugs over the internet, which is a very unsafe way to get these drugs because you don't really know what you're getting and you don't know if it's safe for you as an individual," she said.

She said that some students feel under peer pressure to take the drug in order to keep up with their fellow students, adding: "There's this kind of coercion that goes on.

"I think a lot of students feel it's very unfair that other students are taking these drugs during exams and they feel that they're losing out because the other person has a competitive advantage."

Modafinil is prescribed to treat narcolepsy and other sleep disorders.

It is not illegal for non-suffers to buy prescription-only drugs – with many available online – but supplying them to other people is against the law.

Sky News talked to a number of students at top universities who admitted using the drug, claiming it was widely available on campuses.

Laurie Pycroft, a masters student at Oxford, said: "I have found the ability to go without sleep, when necessary, quite effective. It's essentially like caffeine, just a bit more effective and with less jitters.

"The people I've met who offer me Modafinil for sale, they've all been fellow students, or academic types, rather than your stereotypical wheeler dealer in a hoodie down a dark alley."

Dr Anders Sandberg, research fellow at Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, claimed to use Modafinil every one or two weeks, adding: "It would be much better if it were in the open market, which would mean that we could actually control that it's actually healthy, that side effects get reported, that you could actually study it properly."

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said Modafinil should only be taken following a "full consultation with a doctor who can fully assess you for any possible risks associated with taking a medicine".

A spokesman for Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors, said: "Universities… would have grave concerns about students taking drugs not prescribed to them. Not only is this illegal but it also poses health risks to those students."

An Oxford spokesman said: "If 'cognitive enhancement' drugs are a particular problem at Oxford we have yet to see any substantive evidence for it. We would strongly advise students against taking any drugs that have not been prescribed to them as this could involve putting their health at risk.

"Students who are struggling to cope personally or academically will find a range of support at Oxford."

A spokesman for Cambridge said: "The use of prescription drugs without the approval of a qualified medical practitioner is not to be recommended under any circumstance as unforeseen side effects can be serious."

Source : http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568612/s/31cd347c/sc/3/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Ceducation0Cuniversityeducation0C10A340A2440CUniversities0Ewarned0Eof0Eexplosion0Ein0Euse0Eof0Esmart0Edrugs0Bhtml/story01.htm

DC Rabbi Caps 30-Year Career With Marijuana

Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn spent his 30-year career educating others and helping to ease human suffering, leading Jewish congregations in Australia, Illinois, his hometown of Miami and New Jersey.

Now, he is practicing his faith in a different line of work: Kahn runs a dispensary for medical marijuana. Call it a mitzvah -- or one of God's commandments.

"From the Jewish perspective, nothing is more important than the concept of healing and bringing sufferers relief," said Kahn, 61.

"I was a congregational rabbi during the worst days of the AIDS epidemic and saw up-close and personal what people living with AIDS were dealing with and finding relief with medical marijuana," he said.

Just last month, Kahn and his wife, who works as a nurse at a long-term acute care hospital, opened the Takoma Wellness Center on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., where they are legally allowed to dispense medical marijuana.

So far, they only have three customers, who must meet state criteria and suffer from one of five diseases: HIV, AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis or glaucoma.

"The cannabis plant was created by God on the second day of creation when God created all the other plants, and touching this one isn't forbidden," Kahn said in a June interview with New Voices, a national magazine for Jewish college students.

Stephanie Reifkind Kahn, 59, has decorated the dispensary with "hamsas," a Jewish and Arabic symbol to ward off evil.

"They are Middle Eastern for healing and protection," she said. "It's something the Arab and Israeli communities agree upon. It is our shared connection."

The Kahns are able to offer their for-profit services under the district's Medical Marijuana Program that launched Aug. 1. All proceeds will go to HIV/AIDS charities, according to the Kahns.

Rabbi Kahn comes from the liberal stream of the Jewish faith, but he is not alone in his support of medical marijuana.

The Jewish Advocate just recently reported that the regional co-director of the Chabad of Eastern Massachusetts, which is part of the orthodox stream, had applied for a medical marijuana dispensary license, one of 181 in that state.

The rabbi, Chaim Prus of the Beth Menachem Chabad of Newton, told ABCNews.com that he would be unable to comment until the licensing process is complete.

In 2003, the Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution supporting medical marijuana and called its congregations to support legalization for medical purposes. But that nor any of the other Jewish denominations support widespread legalization of recreational marijuana.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia allow its regulated therapeutic use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California was the first, in 1996.

Congress had blocked legalization in the nation's capital until 2010 with a "very well-regulated law," Kahn said.

"We knew this could be done well and we know how to do this right," he said. "It's important to know the risks. But we are bringing healing and relief to people."

Legal risks are still real, because any use of marijuana is still banned under federal law, but Attorney General Eric Holder eased fears recently saying he would respect local, regulated programs.

A 2003 report by the Institute of Medicine found that cannabinoid drugs like marijuana, which has the active ingredient THC are effective for the treatment of pain, nausea control and appetite stimulation.

Source : http://abcnews.go.com/Health/rabbi-ties-jewish-faith-medical-marijuana-dispensary/story?id=20348883

Pregnant woman 'humiliated' by barman's refusal to serve her glass of wine

"The fact I am pregnant was none of his business. I appreciate a bar's management reserve the right not to serve customers but obviously I wasn't drunk or misbehaving or under 18 - so he had no reason not to serve me. I am not some Vicky Pollard-type binge drinker."

Miss Hampson and her partner, Alistair Townend, 37, had gone for a long stroll around Liverpool's Sefton Park on Tuesday night before visiting the nearby Pi bar.

She said that the young bartender appeared to take a "sharp intake of breath" when she ordered a small glass of red wine.

"The barman came up to me and said he wouldn't serve me because he couldn't have serving a pregnant woman alcohol on his conscience. It was outrageous and embarrassing," she recalled.

"We asked why but he wouldn't budge. We went to another bar nearby and I drank a glass of wine there instead."

Miss Hampson, from the Mossley Hill area of Liverpool, describes herself as health-conscious, has run two marathons in the past, and has made a point of eating a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables to give her baby the best possible start in life.

She has enjoyed an occasional glass of red wine with a meal no more than once a week throughout her pregnancy.

She said: "The barman who refused to serve me was only in his 20s. It's not up to him to decide what I should and shouldn't be putting in my body.

"I felt like asking whether he refuses to serve fat people pies, or whether the bar checks how much caffeine a woman has consumed that day before they serve her a cup of coffee.

"There is recent research that suggests baldness is linked to alcohol consumption, are they going to start measuring people's hairlines before they serve them a pint?"

The NHS advises that pregnant women should drink no more than 1 to 2 units of alcohol, the equivalent of a small glass of wine, once or twice a week to minimise the risk to their unborn child.

Janet Fyle, professional policy adviser for the Royal College of Midwives, recommended that pregnant women should avoid alcohol altogether and argued that the Government's advice on how many units can be drunk safely was confusing.

But she added: "If a woman comes to a midwife and says, 'I am going to my brother's wedding and I would like to have a glass of champagne', you can't say no to her."

Ben Reynolds, the area manager of Pi Bar, apologised to Miss Hampson and described the incident as an "unfortunate misunderstanding".

He said: "What occurred was simply the result of a junior member of staff making a mistake and getting his wires crossed.

"He is deeply sorry for upsetting Ms Hampson and assures me that he was not, as I fear she believes, making a judgment on her, but rather thought for some reason, despite his training, that licensing laws forbade the serving of alcohol to pregnant people."

Source : http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568612/s/31c6451a/sc/38/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cwomen0C10A3394440CPregnant0Ewoman0Ehumiliated0Eby0Ebarmans0Erefusal0Eto0Eserve0Eher0Eglass0Eof0Ewine0Bhtml/story01.htm

DC Rabbi Caps 30-Year Career With Marijuana

Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn spent his 30-year career educating others and helping to ease human suffering, leading Jewish congregations in Australia, Illinois, his hometown of Miami and New Jersey.

Now, he is practicing his faith in a different line of work: Kahn runs a dispensary for medical marijuana. Call it a mitzvah -- or one of God's commandments.

"From the Jewish perspective, nothing is more important than the concept of healing and bringing sufferers relief," said Kahn, 61.

"I was a congregational rabbi during the worst days of the AIDS epidemic and saw up-close and personal what people living with AIDS were dealing with and finding relief with medical marijuana," he said.

Just last month, Kahn and his wife, who works as a nurse at a long-term acute care hospital, opened the Takoma Wellness Center on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., where they are legally allowed to dispense medical marijuana.

So far, they only have three customers, who must meet state criteria and suffer from one of five diseases: HIV, AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis or glaucoma.

"The cannabis plant was created by God on the second day of creation when God created all the other plants, and touching this one isn't forbidden," Kahn said in a June interview with New Voices, a national magazine for Jewish college students.

Stephanie Reifkind Kahn, 59, has decorated the dispensary with "hamsas," a Jewish and Arabic symbol to ward off evil.

"They are Middle Eastern for healing and protection," she said. "It's something the Arab and Israeli communities agree upon. It is our shared connection."

The Kahns are able to offer their for-profit services under the district's Medical Marijuana Program that launched Aug. 1. All proceeds will go to HIV/AIDS charities, according to the Kahns.

Rabbi Kahn comes from the liberal stream of the Jewish faith, but he is not alone in his support of medical marijuana.

The Jewish Advocate just recently reported that the regional co-director of the Chabad of Eastern Massachusetts, which is part of the orthodox stream, had applied for a medical marijuana dispensary license, one of 181 in that state.

The rabbi, Chaim Prus of the Beth Menachem Chabad of Newton, told ABCNews.com that he would be unable to comment until the licensing process is complete.

In 2003, the Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution supporting medical marijuana and called its congregations to support legalization for medical purposes. But that nor any of the other Jewish denominations support widespread legalization of recreational marijuana.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia allow its regulated therapeutic use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California was the first, in 1996.

Congress had blocked legalization in the nation's capital until 2010 with a "very well-regulated law," Kahn said.

"We knew this could be done well and we know how to do this right," he said. "It's important to know the risks. But we are bringing healing and relief to people."

Legal risks are still real, because any use of marijuana is still banned under federal law, but Attorney General Eric Holder eased fears recently saying he would respect local, regulated programs.

A 2003 report by the Institute of Medicine found that cannabinoid drugs like marijuana, which has the active ingredient THC are effective for the treatment of pain, nausea control and appetite stimulation.

Source : http://abcnews.go.com/Health/rabbi-ties-jewish-faith-medical-marijuana-dispensary/story?id=20348883