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karen ocamb & charles stewart, LGBT POV: 76-year-old diane watson announces retirement from congress (2098)

Mon, 02/15/2010 - 20:56

LGBT ally Rep Diane Watson will not run for re-election
by Karen Ocamb
February 11, 2010

Longtime LGBT ally Congressmember Diane E. Watson (D-CA) formally announced Thursday that she is not seeking re-election. She wants Karen Bass, the outgoing Speaker of the California Assembly and another pro-LGBT ally, to replace her representing California’s 33rd Congressional District.

Watson’s openly gay legislative deputy Charles Stewart describes below how his boss told her staff she was retiring. But first something about Watson.

I first met Diane Watson in the early 1990s at AIDS activist Phill Wilson’s house for a meet and greet with the California State Senator, where she’d been serving since 1978. First thing that struck me was how tall she was – statuesque and elegant and smart. Turns out she had a M.A. in School Psychology from California State University, Los Angeles, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the Claremont Graduate School.  She’d already broken barriers – becoming the first Black woman elected to the LA Unified School Board in 1975.

But Watson could also be both intense and feisty. She could get this very intense serious look that instantly brought forth dark clouds when talking about people with HIV/AIDS and then, like Zeus wielding lightening blots, she would smile and threaten to deal sharply with anyone who got in the way of helping people with AIDS. In those days, when being diagnosed as HIV positive seemed like an instant stigmatized death sentence and friends were dying every week – such strident advocacy was like a cool drink of water in the scorching desert.

And Watson wasn’t all talk. Oh, sure she had her detractors, especially among supporters of Rep. Maxine Waters whom many in the Black LGBT community considered Watson’s political rival.

But in fact Watson cared deeply about health care and went to the matt for some very unpopular issues – such as needle exchange, offering a bill in the California Legislature in 1992.

She kept at it and passed a needle exchange bill in 1997.  SB 885 – co-sponsored by the cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and San Francisco, and Santa Clara County – would have created Needle Exchange Pilot Projects in cities that want them.  A couple of years later, Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill prohibiting criminal prosecution of people who participated in needle exchange programs.

In 1999, President Bill Clinton appointed Watson to serve as the US Ambassador to Micronesia but she came home in 2001 to run for the Congressional seat vacated after the death Julian Dixon. She continued to support needle exchange programs and she also worked with AIDS Healthcare Foundation to pressure GlaxoSmithKline to “do the right thing” and lower the price of its antiretroviral drugs for developing countries.

At her side, advising her for most of her tenure, has been openly gay Legislative Deputy Charles Stuart, who is just as tall and statuesque as Watson.

Charles has been openly gay for as long as I’ve known him and has been involved in LGBT political organizations such as Stonewall Democratic Club. This is an email he sent out to friends and family about how Watson broke the news to her staff two days ago that she wasn’t going to run for re-election:

Diane gathered together her 18 staff members yesterday, half in her L.A. District Office on Wilshire (part of sedate Hancock Park when she took office, now absorbed into bustling Koreatown), the other half of us by conference call from our various igloos here in the Washington blizzard.

She was brief. At 76, in painful need of a knee replacement she couldn’t take time off to get, having just thrown her Mom a centennial birthday bash but feeling the need to be at her side more regularly and to spend time with her siblings, nieces and nephews in California more frequently, ten years in — it’s time to go.

She’ll serve out her term until the end of December, but won’t stand for re-election in June. Instead, she’s endorsing for her seat California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, whose district largely overlaps Diane’s and whose terms as Speaker and Assemblymember are also up this year, at the end of this month for the former and the end of the year for the latter.

She thanked us for our ongoing service, intends to work hard on legacy legislation, jobs and mortgage relief for her constituents until the end of the 111th session of Congress, and will use her good offices to help staff head forward in our careers.

There were no questions. Some among us were shocked, nearly all were sad, but a few, including me, were relieved to have our suspicions replaced with fact. The media had been sniffing at us for two weeks, the silence rendering our denials less and less plausible. Apparently, a Member interested in inheriting Diane’s gavel as Chair of the House Government Management, Organization and Procurement Sub-committee decided it was time for her to go down the path of no return and had his staff leak the news to the D.C. blogosphere. So the boss couldn’t wait to tell us all face-to-face by videoconference as she’d planned, and had to slog through Snowmageddon electronically to get to us in a hurry.

But this moves the players around on L.A,’s political chessboard more than Washington’s. Though the Republicans will spin to the contrary, the 33rd Congressional seat is not only at no risk for turning Republican, but it is inconceivable that its occupant will not be (labeled) a liberal. Diane was widely expected to step down in favor of Karen anyway by the time of the 2012 election, when the 2010 census data will have re-shaped all electoral districts save those of the Governor and the two U.S. senators.

Because a ballot initiative is taking away re-districting authority from the State Legislature, Democratic Congressman Berman’s brother Michael won’t be drawing the lines for the first time in 30 years. The commission which replaces him will not only be equal parts Dems and Reps (in a predominantly Democratic state), but every line drawn must be OK’d by commissioners of both parties; The prospect, then, for 2012 is that many congressional, state and local districts will be radically re-configured, largely to the disadvantage of Democrats and, especially, progressive Democrats.

The frustration Diane’s endured since leaving California’s liberal State Senate in 1998 has been mounting since she came to Congress (only somewhat relieved by Dems’ takeovers of the House, Senate and Presidency, since Senate Republicans’ have effectively wielded the filibuster to stymie much of what she hoped to help make happen). The future here looks to hold more of the same, so now’s as good/bad time as any to bid adieu.

I’ve gotten to know Karen Bass probably a little better than any other of Diane’s staff over the last couple of years, as she took my sister-in-spirit (and Diane’s longtime protege) Holly Mitchell under wing, becoming actively engaged in Holly’s campaign to succeed her as Assemblywoman of the 47th District next year (Karen was Diane’s guest on the House floor during the President’s 1st State of the Union Address last month and greeted me with a hug and an urgent whisper, “We’ve got to get Holly to take a leave of absence so she can work full time on the campaign!” Holly’s now done so). So both women will be frontrunners for different seats on the June primary ballot — which, in districts as heavily Dem as these, will actually pretty much determine who gets sworn in after the run-off election in November.

Back to the chessboard. Nothing’s a sure thing and Diane’s withdrawal is not only likely to embolden her official Democratic opponent, the little-known L.A. deputy city attorney Felton Newell, but bring bigger names and money to the contest. Yet it’ll be hard for anyone to beat Karen. Not only does she have Diane’s blessing, the district she already represents in the Assembly largely coincides with the 33rd Congressional district, and she has the patina (and fundraising sinew!) of two years as California’s second most powerful politician, but she also belongs to and is beloved by the demographic of voters which historically decides elections in this district: African American women over forty.  Not to mention that she’s endowed with (hard-won) savvy, powerful allies, broad empathy and deep integrity.

I’ve also long known Karen’s successor next month as Speaker of the Assembly. John Perez will be California’s first, and the nation’s second, openly-gay leader of the state legislature. A cousin of L.A.’s mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, and a union leader, he’s only in his first term as a member of the Assembly, but was Karen’s choice to succeed her and defeated a more senior and better positioned legislator to win the post. John and I served together on the board of Stonewall Democrats in the mid-90s, and were the interview guests on former (Dobie Gillis Show co-star and) state Senator Sheila Kuehl’s West Hollywood talk TV show, “Get Used To It,” shortly before he was elected to office.

So it’s gonna be an exciting time in L.A. politically over the next few years. Yet I had only just concluded that being a Congressional leg director during Barack Obama’s presidency is one of the most exhilarating (if exhausting) jobs on planet earth and, more importantly, I am now the best snow-shoveler on the East Coast — I belong here! Still, it’s my plan to return to L.A. eventually, where Mom abides, Dad visits often from Paris, and my four nieces, twin nephews, and godson Ryan Mitchell have taught me in middle-age that family really is the heartwell of life and the future that matters.

Okay, so I’m lookin’ for a job again. Over fifty, in a nasty recession, a mortgage on one coast – and had just started apartment-hunting on the other. I got the lemons, anybody got a recipe for makin’ lemonade, I’m all ears — and hope…

Charles-who’ll-be-out-shoveling-you-know-what

Categories: E-Groups

AIDS.gov blog: HIV/AIDS new media toolkit part 1 — one-pagers (2097)

Fri, 02/12/2010 - 11:47

new media toolkit
one-pagers

chers—

this is an excellent set of posts on the new media from the AIDS.gov blog. they are intended to give you an overview of just what we’re talking about when we say “new media,” with links to more information and resources as you want and/or need them.

plan spending some time with these pages,

namaste

—rk

Resources and Information from the AIDS.gov blog:


  • Accessibility

    Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, interact with, and contribute to the Web. Web accessibility encompasses all disabilities that affect access to the Web, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities…read full Accessibility One-Pager

    Download PDF Version


  • Blogs

    Blogs are websites with regular updates and typically combine text, images (graphics or video), and links to other webpages. Blogs are usually informal—taking on the tone of a diary or journal entry. Some blogs are very personal, while others provide mainstream news updates. Most blogs encourage dialogue by allowing their readers to leave comments…read full Blogs One-Pager

    Download PDF Version


  • Mashups

    A mashup is a website “that combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool”. Data sources often include maps (such as Google Maps ) and databases (such as business locations). Mashups depend on organizations sharing data. They also depend on software developers to create programs that can work together…read full Mashups One-Pager

    Download PDF Version


  • Photo Sharing

    Photo sharing sites allow you to literally “share photos” online with your friends, family, and colleagues. One of the most common online photo sharing sites is Flickr . Other popular photo sharing sites include SmugMug , BubbleShare , Picasa , and Photobucket . These sites share much in common with online social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace — users can connect with each other, send messages, leave comments, and share photos….read full Photo Sharing One-Pager

    Download PDF Version


  • Podcasts

    Podcasts (a blend of the terms “iPod” and “broadcast”) are audio or video files that you can listen to or watch on your computer or on a variety of portable media devices (like an iPod, Zune, and certain cell phones). They are usually short, often free, and you can subscribe to receive new podcasts automatically via your computer or other media device…read full Podcasts One-Pager

    Download PDF Version


  • RSS Feeds

    “RSS” stands for “Real Simple Syndication.” RSS feeds are a way for websites to distribute their content to people automatically. With an RSS feed, you can subscribe to a particular website, just like you would subscribe to a newspaper, and you will be notified when that site has new content…read full RSS Feeds One-Pager

    Download PDF Version


  • Social Network Sites

    Social network sites are online communities that give you opportunities to connect with, or provide resources to, clients, colleagues, family, and friends who share common interests. In each social network, you create a profile that describes you or your organization, and then invite people to join you as “friends.” There are many different types of social network sites, many of which are free, and they range from general to those tailored for a specific demographic or interest area…read full Social Network Sites One-Pager

    Download PDF Version


  • Texting Appointment and Medication Reminders

    Text messaging is a way of sending information to and from cell phones and certain personal digital assistants (PDAs). More and more clinics are exploring text messaging options to send their clients appointment and medication reminders…read full Texting Appointment and Medication Reminders One-Pager

    Download PDF Version


  • Text Messaging

    Text messaging is a way of sending information to and from cell phones and certain personal digital assistants (PDAs)…read full Text Messaging One-Pager

    Download PDF Version


  • Twitter

    You can think of Twitter as a “micro-blog.” You use your computer or mobile phone to broadcast short messages, or “tweets,” that are limited to 140 characters. People can sign up on Twitter to follow your tweets. You can choose to follow people and will receive their tweets, too. Twitter is a “service for friends, family, and coworkers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?”…read full Twitter One-Pager

    Download PDF Version


  • Usability

    Usability measures the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system—whether that is a website, software application, mobile technology, or any user-operated device. In general, usability refers to how well users can learn and use a product to achieve their goals and how satisfied they are with that process…read full Usability One-Pager

    Download PDF Version


  • Video & Computer Games

    Video and computer games are interactive games you play on game devices (such as Nintendo’s Wii, XBox, and Playstation), and computers. There are single player games, social (or multiplayer) games, and massively-multiplayer online games (MMO), where large numbers of participants play together over the Internet…read full Video & Computer Games One-Pager

    Download PDF Version


  • Virtual Worlds

    A virtual world is a computer-based, simulated reality or fantasy environment where people can socialize, connect, and create in an infinite number of ways. Participants can develop digital representations of themselves, known as avatars. In a virtual world, you can be whomever (or whatever) you want to be…read full Virtual Worlds One-Pager

    Download PDF Version


  • Wikis

    The term “wiki” comes from the Hawaiian word for “fast.” Wiki technology creates a webpage that anyone with access to it can modify—quickly and easily. A wiki is essentially a webpage with an edit button…read full Wikis One-Pager

    Download PDF Version

Download Adobe Acrobat® Reader™ to view PDF files located on this page.

Categories: E-Groups

AIDS.gov blog: HIV/AIDS new media toolkit part 2 —glossary (2096)

Fri, 02/12/2010 - 10:58

new media toolkit
glossary

Click on the term below to see the definition:

Blog
A website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. “Blog” is also a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Example: AIDS.gov Blog
eCards
Similar to a postcard or greeting card, with the primary difference being that it is created using digital media instead of paper or other traditional materials.
Examples: The CDC Health-e-Card site, and ISIS’s inSPOT .
Mashups
A mashup combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool. Data sources often include maps (such as Google Maps) and databases (such as business locations). Mashups depend on organizations sharing data. They also depend on software developers to create programs that can work together.
Examples: AIDSportal , and International AIDS Candlelight Memorial of the Global Health Council .
New Media
“The idea of ‘new media’ captures both the development of unique forms of digital media, and the remaking of more traditional media forms to adopt and adapt to the new media technologies.”
Also see “Social media” and “Web 2.0”.
Example: Many of the examples in this glossary!
News Reader
Also known as a feed aggregator or feed reader is client software or a Web application which aggregates syndicated web content such as news headlines, blogs, and podcasts in a single location (a “personal newspaper”) for easy viewing.
Example: Google News Reader
Online Chat
Can refer to any kind of communication over the Internet, but is primarily meant to refer to direct one-on-one chat or text-based group chat, using tools such as instant messaging applications. The expression online chat comes from the word chat which means “informal conversation”.
Example: AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)
Photo Sharing Services
Photo sharing services allow an individual to publicly or privately share their digital photos online. This functionality is provided through both websites and applications that facilitate the upload and display of images. The term can also be loosely applied to the use of online photo galleries that are setup and managed by individual users, including photoblogs.
Examples: Flickr , SmugMug , BubbleShare , Picasa , and Photobucket .Back to Top
Podcast
A series of digital-media files which are distributed over the Internet for playback on portable media players and computers. The term podcast, like broadcast, can refer either to the series of content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.
Example: San Francisco AIDS Foundation Podcast
RSS Feed
A family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, and podcasts in a standardized format. An RSS document (called a “feed”, “web feed”, or “channel”) contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with web sites in an automated manner.
Example: AIDS.gov’s Podcast and News RSS Feeds
Social Bookmarking
A method for Internet users to store, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web pages on the Internet. In a social bookmarking system, users save links to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, and can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, shared only inside certain networks, or another combination of public and private domains.
Example: Del.ico.us
Social Media
An umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio.
Also see “New media” and “Web 2.0”.
Example: Many of the examples in this glossary!Back to Top
Social Network Services (Social Networking Sites)
Uses software to build online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most services are primarily web-based and provide a collection of various ways for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups, and so on.
Examples: MySpace and Facebook
Texting (or Text Messaging)
The common term for the sending of “short” (160 characters or fewer, including spaces) text messages from mobile phones using the Short Message Service (SMS). It is available on most digital mobile phones and some personal digital assistants with on-board wireless telecommunications. The individual messages which are sent are called text messages, or in the more colloquial text speak texts.
Example: SexInfo SF
Twitter
Twitter is a social network and micro-blog service that allows users to send, receive, and subscribe to short messages, or “tweets” through their computer or cell phone.
Example: AIDS.gov’s Twitter profile .
Usability
Usability measures the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system—whether a website, a software application, mobile technology, or any user-operated device. In general, usability refers to how well users can learn and use a product to achieve their goals and how satisfied they are with that process.1
Examples: Step-by-Step Usability Guide, and AIDS.gov’s blog posts on usability.
Video Games
Video games can be either played on game consoles (such as Wii, XBox, and Playstation) or personal computers. Another distinction is single player games (one person versus the computer), social (or multiplayer) games (where several players play with and against one another, over a local network or the Internet), and massively-multiplayer online games (MMO), where large numbers of participants play together over the Internet.
Examples: Pos or Not , and HIV/AIDS Maze from the National Institute on Drug Abuse .
Video Sharing Service
Also called a video hosting service allows individuals to upload video clips to an Internet website. The video host will then store the video on its server, and show the individual different types of code to allow others to view this video.
Example: YouTube
Virtual World
A computer-based simulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars. These avatars are usually depicted as textual, two-dimensional, or three-dimensional graphical representations, although other forms are possible (auditory and touch sensations for example). Some, but not all, virtual worlds allow for multiple users.
Example: Second Life Back to Top
Web 2.0
A term describing the trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users. These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social networking sites, wikis, and blogs.
Also see “New media” and “Web 2.0”.
Example: Many of the examples in this glossary!
Web Button
Also known as button graphics, Web badges, or stickers are pictures in some World Wide Web pages which are typically used to advertise programs.
Example: AIDS.gov’s Web Badges
Webcast
A media file distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology. As a broadcast may either be live or recorded, similarly, a webcast may either be distributed live or recorded. Essentially, webcasting is “broadcasting” over the Internet.
Example: Kaiser Family Foundation’s Healthcast
Web Conferencing
Is used to conduct live meetings or presentations over the Internet. In a web conference, each participant sits at his or her own computer and is connected to other participants via the internet. This can be either a downloaded application on each of the attendees computers or a web-based application where the attendees will simply enter a URL (website address) to enter the conference.
Example: WebEx (software)Back to Top
Webinar
A specific type of web conference. It is typically one-way, from the speaker to the audience. A webinar can be very collaborative and include polling and question & answer sessions. In some cases, the presenter may speak over a standard telephone line, pointing out information being presented on screen and the audience can respond over their own telephones.
Example: Go To Webinar (software)
Wiki
A collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites.
Examples: Wikipedia and PBWiki

* Note: Unless otherwise noted, information was excerpted and/or adapted from Wikipedia during July 2008 and January 2009.

1 Excerpted from: http://www.usability.gov/basics/whatusa.html. Accessed 1/02/2009.

Categories: E-Groups

AIDS.gov blog: HIV/AIDS new media toolkit part 3 — references (2095)

Fri, 02/12/2010 - 10:46

new media toolkit
resources

Here are some new media resources we’ve come across at AIDS.gov. Please note that this list is just a sample of the many new media resources available on the web.

Please leave a comment if you have other suggestions.

Click on the topics below to see resources:

Blogs

Back to Top

Data on New Media Use eCards Mashups New Media Basics Online Games
  • What is an example of an online HIV/AIDS-focused game?
    • Pos or Not — by MTV’s college network and the Kaiser Family Foundation
Photo Sharing Services

Back to Top

Podcasting

Back to Top

RSS Feeds

Back to Top

Social Networking

Back to Top

Text Messaging Twitter

Back to Top

Video Sharing Virtual Worlds Wikis

Back to Top

Website Accessibility and 508 Compliance Website Usability
Categories: E-Groups

AIDS.gov blog: HIV/AIDS new media toolkit, part 4 — strategy (2094)

Fri, 02/12/2010 - 10:31

new media toolkit
strategy

Here are two tools to help you develop your new media strategy:

Categories: E-Groups

enrique rivero, UCLA newsroom: researchers identify new “broad spectrum antiviral for HIV, Hipah, Ebola & others (2093)

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 06:35

Researchers find ‘broad spectrum’ antiviral that fights multitude of viruses
By Enrique Rivero
February 01, 2010

Compound could be used against HIV-1, Nipah, Ebola and other deadly viruses

Viruses are insidious creatures. They differ from each other in many ways, and they can mutate — at times seemingly at will, as with HIV — to resist a host of weapons fired at them. Complicating matters further is that new viruses are constantly emerging. One potential weapon is a small-molecule “broad spectrum” antiviral that will fight a host of viruses by attacking them through some feature common to an entire class of viruses. For example, there are two categories of viruses: lipid-enveloped and non-enveloped. Enveloped viruses are surrounded by a membrane that in effect serves as a mechanism through which a virus inserts its genome into a host cell, infecting it. Is there something out there that might disrupt that action in as many viruses as possible — and not produce unwanted side effects? A group of researchers led by a team from UCLA and including others from the University of Texas at Galveston, Harvard University, Cornell University and the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases may have found just such a compound. In a proof-of-principle study published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers have identified an antiviral small molecule that is effective against numerous viruses, including HIV-1, influenza A, filoviruses, poxviruses, arenaviruses, bunyaviruses, paramyxoviruses and flaviviruses. These viruses cause some of the world’s deadliest diseases, such as AIDS, Nipah virus encephalitis, Ebola, hemorrhagic fever and Rift Valley fever. Even better, the compound — a rhodanine derivative that the researchers have dubbed LJ001 — could be effective against new, yet-to-be discovered enveloped viruses. “Since the government has changed its priorities to support development of broad spectrum therapeutics, more and more groups have been screening compound libraries for antivirals that are active against multiple viruses in a specific class,” said Dr. Benhur Lee, associate professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the primary investigator of the four-year study. U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved broad spectrum antivirals do exist but are rare, for various reasons. Ribavirin, for instance, affects both the virus proteins and the host cell and is effective on only a limited number of viruses, such as respiratory syncytial virus and Lassa fever virus. And α–interferon, which is used against the hepatitis C virus, produces unwanted side effects and is too expensive for widespread use. But the putative mechanism for LJ001 is surprising, according to Lee, who is also a member of the UCLA AIDS Institute. “We provide evidence that the small molecule binds to both cellular and viral membranes, but its preferential ability to inactivate viral membranes comes from its ability to exploit the biogenic reparative ability of metabolically active cells versus static viral membranes,” he said. “That is, at antiviral concentrations, any damage it does to the cell’s membrane can be repaired, while damage done to static viral membranes, which have no inherent regenerative capacity, is permanent and irreversible.” Lee and his collaborators developed their concept of LJ001 as interfering only with enveloped viruses after testing 23 pathogens in cell culture. Studies of nine of those agents — including Ebola virus, Nipah virus and Rift Valley fever virus — required high- or maximum-containment facilities and were carried out in the biosafety level 3 and 4 laboratories of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) and USAMRIID. “Once we started testing more and more, we figured out that it was only targeting the enveloped viruses,” said Alexander N. Freiberg, director of UTMB’s Robert E. Shope, M.D., Laboratory. The Shope BSL4 lab was also used for mouse experiments with Ebola and Rift Valley fever virus that further confirmed the protective value of LJ001. While the exact mechanism of viral membrane inactivation is unknown, the researchers are pursuing some promising leads that could answer that question. Additionally, the drug does not appear to be toxic in vitro or in animals when used at effective antiviral concentrations. UCLA has filed for a patent on the use of the compound. The study is available in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences at http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/01/27/0909587107. Other authors are Mike C. Wolf, Tinghu Zhang, Zeynep Akyol-Ataman, Andrew Grock, Patrick W. Hong, Natalya F. Watson, Angela Q. Fang, Hector C. Aguilar, John P. Miller, Steven Chantasirivisal, Vanessa Fontanes, Oscar Negrete, Robert Damoiseaux, Paul Krogstad, Asim Dasgupta, Kym F. Faull and Michael E. Jung, all of UCLA; Alexander N. Freiberg, Sara E. Woodson and Michael R. Holbrook, of the University of Texas at Galveston; Jianrong Li and Sean P. Whelan, of Harvard University; Matteo Porotto and Anne Moscona, of Cornell University; and Anna N. Honko and Lisa E. Hensley, of the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. The National Institutes of Health, UCLA CFAR, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the March of Dimes, the California NanoSystems Institute, a UCLA Microbial Pathogenesis Training Grant, the Warsaw Fellowship Endowment, and a Rheumatology Training Grant funded this research. The UCLA AIDS Institute, established in 1992, is a multidisciplinary think tank drawing on the skills of top-flight researchers in the worldwide fight against HIV and AIDS, the first cases of which were reported in 1981 by UCLA physicians. Institute members include researchers in virology and immunology, genetics, cancer, neurology, ophthalmology, epidemiology, social science, public health, nursing, and disease prevention. Their findings have led to advances in treating HIV, as well as other diseases, such as hepatitis B and C, influenza and cancer. For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.
Categories: E-Groups

kate kelland, reuters: british, US scientists grow integrase crystal, solving HIV/AIDS puzzle (2092)

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 05:40

Scientists say [they've] crack[ed] HIV/AIDS puzzle for drugs
By Kate Kelland
January 31, 2010

Study solves puzzle that eluded scientists for 20 years
* Finding should help development of new HIV/AIDS medicines
* Allows scientists to see how Merck and Gilead drugs work

LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Scientists say they have solved a crucial puzzle about the AIDS virus after 20 years of research and that their findings could lead to better treatments for HIV.

British and U.S. researchers said they had grown a crystal that enabled them to see the structure of an enzyme called integrase, which is found in retroviruses like HIV and is a target for some of the newest HIV medicines.

“Despite initially painstakingly slow progress and very many failed attempts, we did not give up and our effort was finally rewarded,” said Peter Cherepanov of Imperial College London, who conducted the research with scientists from Harvard University.

The Imperial and Harvard scientists said that having the integrase structure means researchers can begin fully to understand how integrase inhibitor drugs work, how they might be improved, and how to stop HIV developing resistance to them.

When the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infects someone, it uses the integrase enzyme to paste a copy of its genetic information into their DNA, Cherepanov explained in the study published in the Nature journal on Sunday.

Some new drugs for HIV — like Isentress from Merck & Co (MRK.N) and elvitegravir, an experimental drug from Gilead Sciences (GILD.O) — work by blocking integrase, but scientists are not clear exactly how they work or how to improve them.

The only way to find out was to obtain high-quality crystals — a project that had defeated scientists for many years.

“When we started out, we knew that the project was very difficult, and that many tricks had already been tried and given up by others long ago,” said Cherepanov.

“Therefore, we went back to square one and started by looking for a better model of HIV integrase which could be more amenable for crystallisation.”

The researchers grew a crystal using a version of integrase borrowed from another retrovirus very similar to its HIV counterpart.

It took more than 40,000 trials for them to come up with one a crystal of sufficiently high quality to allow them to see the three-dimensional structure, they said.

They tested the Merck and Gilead drugs on the crystals, and were able to see for the first time how the medicines bind to, and block, integrase.

Almost 60 million people have been infected with HIV and 25 million people have died of HIV-related causes since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. There is no cure and no vaccine, although drug cocktails can keep patients healthy.

United Nations data for 2008 show that 33.4 million people had HIV and 2 million people died of AIDS. The worst-affected region is sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for 67 percent of all people living with HIV.

(Editing by Michael Roddy)

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neal broverman, advocate.com: zelda rubenstein, “mother” of LA cares posters, dies at 76 (2091)

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 05:17

Zelda Rubinstein Dead at 76
by Neal Broverman
Posted on Advocate.com
January 27, 2010

Zelda Rubinstein, the Poltergeist actress and HIV activist, died Wednesday at the Barlow Respiratory Hospital in Los Angeles. She was 76.

The 4-foot, 3-inch actress had various health problems following a mild heart attack she suffered late last year.

Rubinstein will be remembered by gays for being one of the first celebrities to lend her name and face to an HIV/AIDS public awareness campaign aimed at gay men. In a series of billboards and posters that blanketed Los Angeles in the mid ’80s, Rubinstein portrayed “Mother,” a sweet maternal figure who urged her “sons” to play safe. The posters soon spread nationally and then internationally.

The actress spoke to Advocate.com recently about her role in the L.A. Cares campaign and the hit her career took for participating in it (see attached video).

Born in Pittsburgh in 1933, Rubinstein worked as a lab technician until getting into acting in her 40s. Her performance as the psychic Tangina in Poltergeist was hailed by critics, and she later nabbed roles in that movie’s sequels and the quirky television show Picket Fences.

Rubinstein spoke out not only for safe sex but for the rights of gays and little people.

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terry legrand, the alternative (internet radio): kearns & katz discuss feb 12 elder HIV/AIDS summit & new media training (2090)

Wed, 02/10/2010 - 11:29

Terry LeGrand’s
The Alternative
Internet Radio
Channel 1Sunday nights 6:00-7:00
http://www.latalkradio.com/

chers—

click below to listen or download the audiofile

namaste

—rk

Broadcast date: Sunday, January 31, 2010

Guests Richard Kearns, a poet, journalist, activist, organizer for the LA Grassroots Elder HIV/AIDS Advocacy Summit, and long time AIDS survivor, and Elliott Katz discussed LA Grassroots Elder HIV/AIDS Advocacy Summit along with a special visit from LATalkRadio’s Greg Rempe discussing BBQ.

Please click this sentence to Play audio recording of show Please click this sentence to Download audio recording of show

Terry Le Grand transfers his show “The Alternative” from KTLK 1170 Los Angeles to LATALK Radio. Terry Le Grand, has been a GAY activist for many years and now is the Co-Chair of ACT UP Southern California, he is a DIEST and believes that organized religion should not have a significant place in the world today because it’s the cause of most of the major problems of the world.

He is the Executive Producer for Marathon Films and is currently working on a new GAY themed theater presentation.

He is a retired physician and Executive Director of a major AIDS Organization in the Los Angeles area. He lives in North Hollywood with his two cats but shares his life with his two GAY related sons.

Website
www.Terrylegrand.com

Twitter
www.twitter.com/Terrylegrand

Facebook
www.facebook.com/Terrylegrand

Email
Terrylegrand1150@aol.com

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carmen logie, pubmed.gov: canadian AIDS Care study confirms HIV/AIDS stigma’s negative impact on health & quality of life in HIVers (2089)

Fri, 02/05/2010 - 02:33

Meta-analysis of health and demographic correlates of stigma towards people living with HIV.
 by Logie C, Gadalla TM.
Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. carmen.logie@utoronto.ca
AIDS Care. 2009 Jun;21(6):742-53

ABSTRACT

HIV-related stigma may negatively impact the health, quality of life, social support and well-being of people living with HIV (PLHIV). Previous studies have used diverse samples and a multitude of measurement instruments to examine demographic and health correlates of HIV-related stigma, highlighting the importance of synthesizing findings across different studies to gain a better understanding of these associations. This study examined the relationships between HIV-related stigma and a range of demographic, social, physical and health characteristics. A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the overall strength and direction of these relationships. Twenty-four studies of PLHIV, conducted in North America and published in peer-reviewed journals between January of 2000 and November of 2007, were examined and their findings integrated. The heterogeneity of reported results was also assessed and examined. Our review revealed substantial variability in the ways researchers measure participants’ HIV-related stigma as well as their physical, emotional and mental health. In spite of this variability, high stigma level was consistently and significantly associated with low social support (r = -0.369, p<0.0005), poor physical health (r = -0.324, p<0.0005), poor mental health (r = -0.402, p<0.0005), age (-0.066, p<0.05) and income (-0.172, p<0.005). These correlations were of a medium size, which would be recognized by the individual in daily life. Health and mental health professionals working with individuals and families impacted by HIV could benefit from an enhanced understanding of correlates of HIV-related stigma, which will inform assessments, interventions and treatment plans. The association between HIV-related stigma and physical health has potential implications for treatment, care and support for people at different stages of HIV infection. AIDS Service Organizations are also encouraged to integrate findings into HIV stigma interventions and social support programs. Additionally, HIV-related stigma scales should be developed and validated, so that future studies using them are able to report findings that are operationally and conceptually consistent.

PMID: 19806490 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Publication Types, MeSH Terms Publication Types: MeSH Terms: LinkOut - more resources
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mohammad rajja, blitz (bangladesh): social determinants of health (2088)

Wed, 02/03/2010 - 17:35

Social determinants of the health
by Mohammad Rajja
February 3, 2010

chers—

the discussion that follows concerns the social factors (determinants) driving poor health — poverty, malnutrition, gender and more. it’s a bit of a wrestling match with english, but all the more interesting because of that. think of it as a bit of a tone poem.

and rajja’s english is way better than my bangladeshi.

namaste

—rk

There are more than a few social determinants of the health of populations in the [bangladesh] region. These encompass eight major ones discuss[ed] below. Other connected factors include stress, the nature of work, service status, as well as social support.

Poor countries and poor people suffer from multiple deprivations that translate into high levels of ill health and disability.

Poverty is an absolute barrier to good health. It impacts health by influencing each and every solitary other factor adversely. The poor are more vulnerable to disease owing to; in their lack of access to primitive, preventive and curative fitness care, nutritious food and financial resources. In addition, poor people are also more vulnerable to environmental threats to health, such as polluted air and water, which undermine the quality of their lives.

Preventable and treatable diseases therefore take a massive toll on the poorest people. Over 2.3 million people, primarily in developing countries, die annually from eight vaccine-preventable diseases. An estimated 1.7 million people in growing countries die annually from disease linked to unsafe water and hygiene and poor hygiene. In many countries, [tobacco use among the poor is significant.] In some countries, burn rates are [usage is] twice as high in the lowest income group when compared with the highest. The vicious sequence of ill health has a greater impact where deprived community is generally not enclosed by adequate health indemnity that protects their right of entry to health services.

The impact of gender discrimination on health begins from the foetal stage with malnutrition in young pregnant women. The effects of malnutrition in babyhood and adolescence are chiefly devastating for girls. Girls who are malnourished during childhood are more likely to be malnourished as adolescents, to enter their first pregnancy malnourished, and to give birth to underweight babies whose learning capacities are stunted from nutritional deficiencies, thus perpetuating the sequence of hunger and poor healthiness.

This effect is aggravated if the first pregnancy occurs for the duration of teenage years. Household food security, gender equity in access to food within households, gender-sensitive knowledge of nutrition and nutrition-related health practices and the child care that household members, both male and female, could provide, are crucial for overcoming childhood malnutrition, and ensuring that girls and women continue in the direction of be fairly and adequately nourished. Women are increasingly more prone to HIV infection than men.

In earlier stages of the epidemic, the infection occurred predominantly among men. The numbers of HIV-positive women and men are now about equal. Smoking rates are lower among women than men. However, the tobacco industry is increasingly targeting women in mounting countries of the region where female roles include begun to change.

Increased smoking among women is indicative of the triumph of such targeting, which fosters an association between smoking and imagery of setting free, slimness and sexual attraction. Generally, there are no sex differences in the prevalence of mental along with behavioral disorders.

There is, however, a superior prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders among women. Women are inclined to experience considerable mental suffering because of reproductive health conditions in addition to problems. Here is also a strong association between mental disorders like gloominess, anxiety and stress-related syndromes with violence in the life of women.

Teaching, especially girls’ education, is key to addressing health disparities throughout the region. Education levels are low in South Asia, with the adult literacy rate at 57.6 per cent and the feminine literacy rate is only 40.8 per cent. Education is crucial if people are to obtain safer in addition to better employment; achieve greater levels of health literacy; understand the importance of sustainable food security in order to reduce malnutrition; take preventive health measures; and avoid high-risk behaviors. Adequate and appropriate teaching provides the tool for breaking out of the cycle of hunger and poverty. A girl having improved access to education is connected with better health for both women with their children.

due to declining fertility and increasing longevity, the Asian and Pacific region is experiencing a rapid increase in the proportion of the population aged 60 years and over. Much of the disease burden among older persons results from chronic NCDs that are difficult in addition to expensive to treat. Alzheimer’s and senile dementia and such mental illnesses as gloominess occur predominantly in the ageing population.

Cataract sightlessness is also more prevalent among older persons. On the other hand, the ageing inhabitants face increasing problems in accessing fitness services. Older persons are probable to exist most affected through the privatization of health services and the erosion of universal care from side to side publicly funded health systems, with an increased global emphasis on cost recovery. Most care for dependent older people is provided by relatives’ members with scarce community-based resources and lacks quality assurance mechanisms and regulatory supplies in formal long-term care. The breakdown of family and community hold up systems associated with speedy urbanization and decreases in the ratio sandwiched between workers and elder dependants render the provision of aged care a challenge in much of the region where change is often abrupt and compensatory social services are weak.

The advance of effective strategies has also been hampered by a lack of international policy focus on the well-being of older persons and the predominance of an unenthusiastic global instance of old age.

Labor migration has grown rapidly and is increasingly important. Migration is occurring within country, across borders within the region interregional. Asylum seeker workers tend to be concentrated inside sectors of economic activity with little or no health, safety or legal protection. They are particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses.

Migrant workers often carry out jobs that entail higher risk, and are inadequately paid. Their status is impermanent and they encompass least recourse when illness, injury or other problems occur that necessitate medical attention. Most national health care devices do not cover up migrants, in particular unregistered ones.

Inner migration from rural to urban areas and the urban transformation of rural settlements are important determinants of the high urban population development in less developed regions. The town population of the region is projected to increase dramatically. The urban poor suffer overfilling poor ventilation, lack of potable water, poor sanitation and inadequate nutrition.

The infant mortality rate in a Manila slum was 2.8 times higher than that in non-squatter areas. In the slums of Dhaka, diarrhea was twice as prevalent as in rural Bangladesh. Anywhere to live is an important determinant of health that is linked through other determinants, such as poverty, urbanization and education. The housing atmosphere can impact health through its structure, provision for waste disposal, ventilation, covered air pollution, and the use of the home as a workplace and for the luggage compartment of dangerous chemicals. Throughout the region, construction activity and the volume of traffic have burgeoned, causing significantly higher noise levels, often without protection. Technological advancements in sound intensification systems are broadly used, with community announcement, broadcasts and melody organism part of the ever-present city noise.

A lot of social groups are subjected to systematic stigmatization, favoritism and marginalization, which have a significant impact on their health status. Their access to health carrying weapons armed forces as well as the quality and suitability of services provided, and the amount that their views are respected in treatment options are affected by the attitudes and behavior of health service providers. For lots of access could also be clear-thinking from end to end care-givers.

Stigmatization exerts a physically powerful influence on personal awareness of self-worth and the will to fight for one’s right to be healthy. People living by resources of HIV/AIDS are often unable in the direction of obtain adequate health and other basic services. Similarly, many mentally ill people are rejected by their families, leading to their fetching homeless or outstanding abandoned in institutions. Women living with AIDS with women who are emotionally ill are likely to face greater obstacles; often their relations with their kids are forcibly severed.

Populace with diverse disabilities has the same need for regular access to health services as non-disabled persons. However, they stand more challenges in securing that access due to bodily and in order barriers that occur from shame and bias.

In situation of conflict and ecological disasters, morbidity and mortality related to injury, violence, accidents and destruction are common. The shock of displacement, sudden loss and physical trauma triggers mental health problems in the middle of many. Refugees typically experience high mortality following their displacement. Furthermore, health services may be disrupted, restrict access exactly when the need for it escalates and conditions for disease e.g., diarrhea, cholera plus malaria outbreak have been created. Food and water provide appearances are often under attack in disagreement situations.

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enrique rivero, UCLA newsroom: new research model predicts emergence of drug-resistant HIV/AIDS strains (2087)

Wed, 02/03/2010 - 16:58

Study predicts HIV drug resistance will surge
By Enrique Rivero
January 22, 2010

chers—

there are several useful lilnks at the end of this post.

namaste

—rk

New research based on a novel mathematical model predicts that a wave of drug-resistant HIV strains will emerge in San Francisco within the next five years. These strains could prove disastrous by hindering control of the HIV pandemic. In a study published Jan. 14 on the website of the journal Science, researchers from the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA and the University of California, San Francisco’s HIV AIDS Program at San Francisco General Hospital, developed a complex network model that tracks the transmission of multiple strains of HIV. The model can be used to predict drug resistance in any setting where individuals are treated for HIV infection. While in this case it was applied to San Francisco, the researchers found that the drug-resistant strains emerging in that city are also very likely to emerge in many African countries where treatment is just beginning. The model showed that surprisingly many of the drug-resistant HIV strains that have evolved over the past last 10 years in San Francisco are much more transmissible than had been previously thought. The researchers predict these strains are likely to cause a new wave of drug resistance within the next five years. “This isn’t just about San Francisco,” said senior author Sally Blower, director of UCLA’s Center for Biomedical Modeling and a member of the UCLA AIDS Institute. “It’s basically about many other communities in resource-rich countries and has significant implications for global health. San Francisco is like the canary in the mine. In fact, the most significant implications of our work are for countries where treatment is just being rolled out.” The researchers began the study by using their model to analyze data from San Francisco. They modeled the evolution of drug-resistant strains over the past 20 years and predicted their spread over the next five years, according to co-first author Robert Smith, who was a postdoctoral fellow in Blower’s lab when the research was conducted. “What was very disturbing was we found that some of the drug-resistant strains were increasing,” said Smith, now an assistant professor in the department of mathematics and statistics at the University of Ottawa. The researchers’ model was able to explain this increase, said Justin T. Okano, the other co-first author on the study and a research associate in Blower’s group. “Our model showed that what is going on in San Francisco is very complicated — but in a nutshell, it is due to the bug, the drugs and sex,” he said. The researchers do not know the extent of the spread of resistance, said co-author James Kahn, professor of clinical medicine at the UCSF Positive Health Program at San Francisco General Hospital, who was among the first to document the spread of HIV resistance at San Francisco General Hospital. “Our modeling can be applied to other diseases, too, and can improve our understanding of the spread of resistant pathogens” he said. The modeling also allowed the team to predict what is likely to happen in countries where HIV treatment is just becoming available. “What is very unsettling is that our modeling shows that the current strategy for HIV elimination that is being proposed by the World Health Organization could inadvertently make things worse and significantly increase levels of drug resistance in many African countries,” Blower said. Erin Bodine, a graduate student at the University of Tennessee who was a research assistant in Blower’s lab when the research was conducted, was also a co-author. More information can be found on Blower’s site, at www.semel.ucla.edu/biomedicalmodeling . Grants to the researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the National Academies Keck Foundation, the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Ontario’s Ministry of Research and Innovation Early Researcher Award program, the Canadian national research network MITACS, the National Center for Research Resources, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality funded this study. The University of California, San Francisco, is a leading university dedicated to defining health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. The Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA is an interdisciplinary research and education institute devoted to the understanding of complex human behavior, including the genetic, biological, behavioral and sociocultural underpinnings of normal behavior, and the causes and consequences of neuropsychiatric disorders. In addition to conducting fundamental research, the institute faculty seeks to develop effective treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders, improve access to mental health services, and shape national health policy regarding neuropsychiatric disorders. The UCLA AIDS Institute, established in 1992, is a multidisciplinary think tank drawing on the skills of top-flight researchers in the worldwide fight against HIV and AIDS, the first cases of which were reported in 1981 by UCLA physicians. Institute members include researchers in virology and immunology, genetics, cancer, neurology, ophthalmology, epidemiology, social science, public health, nursing, and disease prevention. Their findings have led to advances in treating HIV, as well as other diseases, such as hepatitis B and C, influenza and cancer. For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom or follow us on Twitter.
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john hoeffel, latimes: LA city council votes 9-3 to pass “strict” medical cannabis ordinance (2086)

Wed, 02/03/2010 - 11:31

Los Angeles City Council approves medical marijuana ordinance that will shut down hundreds of dispensaries
By John Hoeffel
January 26, 2010

In a 9-3 vote, the Los Angeles City Council today gave its final approval to an ordinance that will shut down hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries and impose strict rules on the location and operation of the dispensaries that are allowed.

The measure passed quickly, without debate.

The ordinance, which the council first began discussing more than 4 1/2 years ago, will cap the number of dispensaries at 70 but make an exception to allow all those that registered with the city in 2007 and have remained open. City officials believe that number is around 150.

Hundreds of dispensaries have opened in Los Angeles as the City Council debated its proposed ordinance and failed to enforce a moratorium on new dispensaries. City officials believe there are more than 500 that will be required to close under the ordinance, but some are already preparing to sue the city and collect signatures to force a referendum on the ordinance.


The ordinance also requires dispensaries to be at least 1,000 feet from other dispensaries and so-called sensitive uses, such as schools, parks and libraries. Among other restrictions, dispensaries will be required to close at 8 p.m. and will not be permitted to allow marijuana use at the stores.

The ordinance will not take effect until after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signs it and the City Council approves the fees that dispensaries will have to pay to cover the city’s cost of monitoring. City officials are studying those costs and expect to propose the fees soon.

Once the ordinance is in place, the city attorney’s office will send letters to affected landlords and dispensary operators telling them that they must close immediately. If the dispensaries remain open, the city attorney’s office likely will take them to court.

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frank stoltze, KPCC (89.3): LA city council members discuss pot experiences in past (2085)

Wed, 02/03/2010 - 11:06


Medical cannabis advocate and rastafarian minister Ali Rashi offering public comment at a december Los Angeles City Council meeting about safe access and distribution. a great photo by Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Image captures some of the feel of the debate —rk

LA City Council members talk about their marijuana use
by Frank Stoltze
Jan. 26, 2010

The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday [approved] a new ordinance that would shut down most medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. It would place a cap of 70, with up to about 140 pot shops grandfathered in. KPCC surveyed councilmembers about whether they’d ever smoked pot – medical or otherwise.

It was 1968, and Councilman Tom LaBonge was a high school kid sweet on a girl. She offered him some pot.

“I was 15. It was after school. I was visiting a girl. And ya know, that’s what you did then,” said LaBonge.

He said he only did that again a couple more times.

In response to the same query, Councilmember Herb Wesson was coy.

“Let me say this. I know what weed is. I went to college in 1969. And that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

Councilman Paul Koretz sounded a similar tone.

“I won’t comment on what things were done in high school and college. But I would say at a minimum it’s been many, many years,” he said.

Councilmen Tony Cardenas and Jose Huizar wouldn’t even answer the question.

Many politicians still worry that an affirmative response would hurt their careers, even though the president of the United States has acknowledged he smoked pot as a young man.

Councilman Bill Rosendahl seems to have no such worries. Rosendahl, who said his partner used cannabis for medical reasons before he died of AIDS, readily admitted he’d smoked pot too.

“Yeah, I have. Sure. So has practically everybody.”

Asked if he still smoked, Rosendahl clammed up. “That’s a private matter.”

Councilwoman Jan Perry said she’d never smoked anything because she has allergies. But her younger sister had ingested marijuana pills before she passed away at age 35.

“It did help her keep her appetite up and mitigated some of her symptoms. So I think it would be a lot easier if we just legalized it.”

Councilwoman Janice Hahn – the daughter of the late longtime L.A. County Supervisor Kenny Hahn – never dared take a hit of pot.

“My father said ‘don’t do anything that you don’t want to see on the front page of the L.A. Times tomorrow.’ So I grew up afraid that I would embarrass my father.”

Like many council members, Richard Alarcon said marijuana was hard to avoid.

“Well, ya know I grew up during the hippie era and I’m not going to say I didn’t. I did. And interestingly, I don’t think I ever purchased. If somebody was smoking at a party or something, we would have done it.”

Back in the day, they called that freeloading.

“Yes, I was very much a freeloader.”

Councilmen Dennis Zine and Bernard Parks – both ex-police officers – said they never smoked pot.

“When I joined the LAPD, if you have smoked marijuana or injected any other drug, you would be disqualified,” said Zine, who joined the department in 1968. The rules have since been relaxed.

Councilman Greig Smith is a reserve LAPD cop, and self-described child of the ’60s. But he said he never used any drugs.

“This is not something I ever wanted to participate in for my personal body,” said Smith.

We didn’t get responses from Councilmen Ed Reyes and Paul Krekorian.

The L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti stiffened when asked.

“I have,” he curtly said.

Does he smoke now?

“No I do not.”

Councilman LaBonge recalled a party he attended as a teenager.

“I was the best dancer at the party and one of the girls asked me if I smoke pot, and I felt bad because she thought I danced cool because I smoked pot, and I said no, I don’t smoke pot,” he said.

LaBonge said, “I never wanted to smoke pot again.”

Except for that one time, he said, when he was in his twenties and another girl offered it to him.

Now, he says, he prefers the high of hiking Griffith Park.

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