• Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net

    Denver Mile High Marijuana Summit

    Listen to the Denver Mile High Marijuana Summit, November 6.

    Speakers:

    Rick Doblin, PhD Founder and Executive Director, MAPS

    Jeff Jones Oaksterdam University, Prop 19, California

    Ethan Nadelmann Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance

    Aaron Houston Executive Director, SSDP

    Sue Sisley, MD Arizona Medical Marijuana Initiative

    Steve Fox Director of Government Relations, MPP

    Mason Tvert Executive Director, SAFER

    Brian Vicente Executive Director, Sensible Colorado

    Part 1:

    Part 2:

    Or watch in Quicktime format.

    http://www.maps.org/colorado2010/summit/mmjsummit.mov

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Drug Policy - Question of the Week

    Could legalizing marijuana help cure breast cancer?

    Drug Policy Question of the Week – 11-4-10

    As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 11-4-10. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3132

    Question of the Week: Could legalizing marijuana help cure breast cancer?

    This was the title of an article that recently received top placement on AlterNet.org. October has been National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

    Scientific journals like Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, Molecular Cancer Therapeutic, and Molecular Cancer have all published fairly recent pre-clinical studies concerning the potential of cannabinoids as treatments for breast cancer. These studies also extol the safety of cannabinoid therapies.

    The human body contains an internal system interrelated with molecules in the cannabis – marijuana – plant. A neurological signaling structure called the endocannabinoid system is now known to govern numerous bodily processes like appetite, pain, and even the birth of new brain cells. Cannabinoid receptors, called CB1 and CB2, are located in various cell membranes and activated by the body’s own cannabinoid molecules, as well as those unique to the cannabis plant (THC, CBD) or synthetically-derived.

    The latest research is proving that cannabinoids, as part of this bodily system, plays a mitigating role in breast cancer.

    A breast cancer diagnosis will confront about 1 in 8 American women this year. Some 40,000 will die from it. Therapies involve invasive surgery, heavy radiation, and toxic chemotherapy.

    Over the decades, a labyrinth of governmental agencies with multi-billion dollar budgets has enforced marijuana laws while thwarting clinical research and reinforcing anti-marijuana stereotypes.

    Numerous efforts have challenged the U.S. Government’s monopoly control over cannabis, but they haven’t dislodged the federal government’s grip on this policy.

    To accelerate the clinical trials that will develop promising cannabinoid-based breast cancer treatments, an untried question might be asked, could legalizing marijuana help cure breast cancer?

    Article in Breast Cancer Research & Treatment: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20859676

    Article in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19887554

    Article in Molecular Cancer: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2917429/pdf/1476-4598-9-196.pdf

    Article by Mary Jane Borden on AlterNet:  Could legalizing marijuana in California help cure breast cancer?

    These facts and others like them can be found in the Medical Marijuana chapter of Drug War Facts at www.drugwarfacts.org.

    Questions concerning these or other facts concerning drug policy can be e-mailed to [email protected]

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Drug Policy - Question of the Week

    Do marijuana users need treatment?

    Drug Policy Question of the Week – 10-27-10

    As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 10-27-10. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3120

    Question of the Week: Do marijuana users need treatment?

    First, with respect to life saving treatment, marijuana is fairly safe. According to the World Health Organization in 1998,

    “There are no confirmed cases of human deaths from cannabis poisoning in the world medical literature.”

    Further, Drug Abuse Warning Network data showed no emergency room marijuana deaths from 2004 to 2008.

    The National Institute of Drug Abuse in its December 2007 edition of Addiction Science and Clinical Practice stated,

    “Marijuana produces dependence less readily than most other illicit drugs. Some 9 percent of those who try marijuana develop dependence compared to, for example, 15 percent of people who try cocaine and 24 percent of those who try heroin.” (p. 5)

    This 9 percent translates into around 9.4 million individuals based on the 104 million Americans who in 2009 were believed to have ever tried marijuana.

    NIDA estimates that around 4.3 percent of Americans have been dependent on marijuana, as defined in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

    Describing withdrawal, the NIDA report noted that, marijuana withdrawal

    “does not appear to include major medical or psychiatric consequences and may be considered mild compared with heroin and severe alcohol withdrawal syndromes.” (p. 10)

    Ironically, one treatment showing great promise for marijuana withdrawal is its own active ingredient, THC. The NIDA report concluded that,

    “THC reduced craving and ratings of anxiety, feelings of misery, difficulty sleeping, and chills. … These findings were replicated in an outpatient study, which found that moderate oral dosage of THC (10 mg, three times daily) suppressed many marijuana withdrawal symptoms and that a higher dosage (30 mg, three times daily) almost completely abolished [them].” (p. 11)

    These facts and others like them can be found in the Treatment and Marijuana chapters of Drug War Facts at www.drugwarfacts.org.

    Questions concerning these or other facts concerning drug policy can be e-mailed to [email protected]

    Drug Policy Question of the Week – 10-20-10

    As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 10-20-10. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3111

    Question of the Week: How accurate is government data?

    This is an interesting question since we covered drug use and arrest estimates during the last few Drug Truth Network shows. While government statisticians may attempt to calculate best estimates and even though their work may represent the only numbers on a subject, several reports suggest that readers should be mindful of data limitations and skeptical about results.

    Recall that the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health contained the caveat,

    “2002 and later data should not be compared with 2001 and earlier data from the survey series to assess changes over time.” (p. 8 )

    The recent “Reducing Drug Trafficking Revenues and Violence in Mexico” report from the RAND Corporation used the following quote from 2006 National Drug Control Strategy published by the Office of National Drug Control Policy as an example of questionable data:

    “Mexican traffickers receive more than $13.8 billion in revenue from illicit-drug sales to the United States; 61 percent of that revenue, or $8.5 billion, is directly tied to marijuana export sales.” (p. 36)

    But after analyzing these numbers, RAND researchers concluded,

    “We are not aware of any publicly available documents that provide empirical support for these figures. Not only does this make it difficult to assess whether the figures are correct; it also makes it difficult to understand what these figures actually cover.” (p. 28)

    A 2003 report called the Numbers Game from the Transnational Institute summarized one of the main problems with data related to illegal drugs,

    “the obstacles to statistical data collection are daunting [because] The illegal nature of the industry precludes direct measurement.” (p. 2)

    The report also noted,

    “Morals and ideology tend to play an extremely strong role in those debates. For these reasons, all illicit drug data can be manipulated for political gain.” (p. 3)

    These facts and others like them can be found in the Drug Usage and U.S. Policy chapters of Drug War Facts at http://www.drugwarfacts.org.

    Questions concerning these or other facts concerning drug policy can be e-mailed to [email protected]

    Do marijuana users need treatment?

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Question of the Week

    Marijuana Facts from Drug War Facts

    Drug Policy Question of the Week – 10-13-10

    As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 10-13-10. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3102

    Question of the Week: Sixteen commonly asked questions concerning marijuana are answered in a new Fact Sheet now available in the Marijuana chapter of Drug War Facts called, “Marijuana Facts from Drug War Facts.” In PDF format, you can find it on the web at http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/Marijuana. It is Fact #2.

    This fact sheet provides answers to 16 commonly asked questions about marijuana, many of which have been answered during these Drug Truth Network shows.

    As typical of Drug War Facts, the answer to each question is referenced from credible sources, usually government data, clinical studies, or think tank reports. Included with each Fact is a direct quotation or numbers referenced directly from the source, along with a link to back to that source.

    Mike Gray, the Co-chairman of Common Sense for Drug Policy, the organization that produces Drug War Facts, expressed the need for the fact sheet by stating,

    “The debate on whether to tax and regulate marijuana should be a fact-based one so that California can develop the most effective policy. It is too easy when it comes to marijuana for people to lose sight of what is true and what is false, what is myth and what is reality.  We are providing this resource to the media to make sure the debate remains elevated to fact-based information.”

    This new marijuana fact sheet can be used as a handout at rallies, meetings, and other events. The Fact Sheet’s two pages can easily be printed front/back to make an easy-to-use one page flyer.

    Each fact on this new marijuana fact sheet can be found in the Marijuana, Drug Usage, or Gateway Theory chapters of Drug War Facts at www.drugwarfacts.org.

    Questions concerning these or other facts concerning drug policy can be e-mailed to [email protected]

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net

    Latinos Also Especially Screwed Over by Pot Prohibition

    Though Not As Much As Blacks

    By Jacob Sullum

    Last week the Drug Policy Alliance released a report that showed blacks in California are much more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites, even though they are less likely to smoke pot. Today another DPA report highlights similar, though less dramatic, disparities between Latinos and non-Hispanic whites. In a coordinated move, the National Latino Officers Association, citing marijuana prohibition’s disproportionate impact on Latinos, today endorsed Proposition 19, California’s pot legalization initiative. The National Black Police Association and the California NAACP are supporting Prop. 19 for similar reasons.

    The authors of the DPA report, led by Queens College sociologist Harry Levine, found that from 2006 to 2008 “major cities in California arrested and prosecuted Latinos for marijuana possession at double to nearly triple the rate of whites,” despite the fact that “U.S. government surveys consistently find that young Latinos use marijuana at lower rates than young whites.” Out of 33 cities examined in the report, Pasadena, Santa Monica, and Alhambra—where Latinos were almost three times as likely to be busted for marijuana offenses— had the biggest disparties. In Los Angeles, which accounts for one-tenth of the state’s population, the ratio was 2 to 1.

  • Cannabis & Hemp - DrugSense - Feature

    Could Legalizing Marijuana in California Help Cure Breast

    Newshawk: Medical Marijuana www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/54
    Pubdate: Tue, 26 Oct 2010
    Source: AlterNet (US Web)
    Author: Mary Jane Borden

    For 70 years, we’ve been taught that marijuana has no accepted
    medical use and that its high potential for abuse demands absolute
    prohibition. Medical research has been nearly impossible since
    obtaining the substance for legitimate studies is restricted by the
    federal government.

    But for a moment, forget the anti-drug ads of stoned teenagers
    passing the bong and click instead on the National Library of
    Medicine’s website, “Pubmed.gov.” Look under “breast cancer and
    cannabinoid” and you will find studies in scientific journals like
    Breast Cancer Research and Treatment that should warrant immediate
    action: “Our data demonstrate the efficacy of CBD in pre-clinical
    models of breast cancer. The results have the potential to lead to
    the development of novel non-toxic compounds for the treatment of
    breast cancer metastasis…”

    A study in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics says, “These results
    indicate that CB1 and CB2 receptors could be used to develop novel
    therapeutic strategies against breast cancer growth and metastasis.”
    And this from the journal Molecular Cancer: “these results provide a
    strong preclinical evidence for the use of cannabinoid-based
    therapies for the management of ErbB2-positive breast cancer.” What’s
    more, this basic research also extols the safety of potential
    cannabinoid therapies.

    The science behind these studies finds that the human body contains
    its own internal system interrelated with molecules in the cannabis
    plant–AKA marijuana. A neurological signaling structure called the
    endocannabinoid system is now known to govern numerous bodily
    processes like appetite, pain, and even the birth of new brain cells.
    Cannabinoid receptors, called CB1 and CB2, are located in various
    cell membranes and activated by the body’s own cannabinoid molecules
    (endocannabinoids), as well as those unique to the cannabis plant
    (THC, CBD) and synthetically-derived cannabinoids like MarinolRegistered .

    And now, the latest research is proving that cannabinoids, as part of
    this bodily system, play a mitigating role in breast cancer.

    Breast cancer is a frightening diagnosis that will confront about 1
    in 8 American women this year. Some 40,000 will die from it. An
    unusual lump in a breast can grow through four increasingly incurable
    stages and sometimes into other tissue. Therapies involve invasive
    surgery, heavy radiation, and toxic chemotherapy. Current anti-cancer
    drugs may kill cancer cells, but they also destroy non-cancerous
    tissue and damage heart muscle. Intractable nausea and vomiting
    comprise just one side effect. The disease may be worse than the cure
    but the cure can also kill.

    But suppose some scientist has just come out of the jungle with an
    unknown plant that holds this much promise. It would be featured in
    the nightly news and on the front page of every newspaper. Well, we
    now have before us scientific clues that seem to point toward a
    revolution in breast cancer treatment, yet the government still
    manages to bury this amazing discovery.

    Why? Politics. The “Devil Weed” has always been a favorite target for
    tough-on-crime politicians. Over the decades, they have assembled a
    labyrinth of governmental agencies with multi-billion dollar budgets
    that enforce marijuana laws, ignore the science, thwart clinical
    research–and constantly reinforce anti-pot stereotypes.

    [continues] http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n870.a09.html

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net

    Arresting Blacks for Marijuana in California

    Possession Arrests, 2006-08

    Levine, Harry G., et al. Arresting Blacks for Marijuana in California: Possession Arrests, 2006-08. Los Angeles: Drug Policy Alliance.

    The Drug Policy Alliance and the California State Conference of the NAACP have released a report that documents widespread race-based disparities in the enforcement of low-level marijuana possession laws in California. In the last 20 years, California made 850,000 arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana, and half a million arrests in the last 10 years. The people arrested were disproportionately African Americans and Latinos, overwhelmingly young people, especially young men. Yet, U.S. government surveys consistently find that young whites use marijuana at higher rates than young blacks. From 2006 through 2008, police in 25 of California’s major cities have arrested blacks at four, five, six, seven and even twelve times the rate of whites.