• Letter of the Week

    Letter Of The Week

    A BUDGET SAVING IDEA: END THE WAR ON DRUGS

    One area of the federal budget that should be cut is the money spent
    to fight the drug wars. Primarily, this means decriminalizing personal
    drug use by peaceful adults and regulating the sale of currently
    illegal drugs. Whether we are talking about controlled drugs or
    prescription drugs, it should not be a civil or criminal offense for
    peaceful and honest adults to ingest any substance.

    If a person drives a vehicle while intoxicated or commits crimes to
    support a drug habit, that is a different situation, and it is a
    proper role of government to protect citizens against the real threats
    to physical harm by others. It is also a proper role of our government
    to protect children. But, we should not wreck the futures of peaceful
    adults by giving them a criminal record for drug use.

    You can drink as much alcohol as you want in your home or at a bar (as
    long as you don’t drive while intoxicated), and that is your personal
    business, and it has no effect on your ability to get or keep a job or
    to serve in the military or to get an education. But, if you get
    caught using drugs, you will have significant problems in all of those
    areas. That is not right, it is not just and is a wrongful
    infringement on our liberties.

    Kurt Johnson, Urbandale

    Pubdate: Sat, 19 Feb 2011

    Source: Des Moines Register (IA

  • Hot Off The 'Net

    Why This Cop Asked the President About Legalizing Drugs

    The president’s YouTube comments are a tremendous first step for a more open national dialogue on drug reform.

    You might not think a 65-year-old retired cop would take to the Internet to ask the president of the United States to consider legalizing drugs, but that’s just what I did recently. The answer I got from President Obama in YouTube’s “Your Interview with the President” contest pleasantly surprised me.

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net

    Ingredient in cannabis restores taste for cancer patients

    Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

    PARIS – The ingredient that gives cannabis its “high” and famously whets the appetite can help cancer patients recover lost pleasure in food, according to a study published on Wednesday.

    Researchers in Canada enrolled 21 patients who had been treated with chemotherapy for advanced cancer, and gave them either capsules containing THC — delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive chemical in cannabis — or dummy lookalike pills.

    The volunteers took the tablets for 18 days, and were asked to fill in questionnaires.

    Seventy-three percent of those who took the THC reported an increased liking for food and 55 percent said the medication “made food taste better”. In the placebo group, these figures were only 30 percent and 10 percent.

    Both groups consumed roughly the same total of calories, but the THC patients said they ate more protein than before the start of the experiment and enjoyed savoury foods more.

    The THC-takers also reported better quality of sleep and relaxation than in the placebo group.

    The experiment is small scale but the first to explore the touted qualities of THC through random selection of volunteers and use of a “control” group by which to make a comparison.

    Lead investigator Wendy Wismer, an associate professor at the University of Alberta, said the findings were important because cancer, or its treatment, can cripple appetite and lead to dangerous weight loss.

    Many cancer patients, for instance, complain that meat smells and tastes unpleasant, so they eat less of it.

    “For a long time, everyone has thought that nothing could be done about this,” Wismer said in a press release.

    “Indeed, cancer patients are often told to ‘cope’ with chemosensory problems by eating bland, cold and colourless food. This may well have the result of reducing food intake and food enjoyment.”

    Wismer said that doctors should consider THC treatment for cancer patients suffering from loss of taste, smell and appetite.

    THC was well tolerated, and in terms of side effects there were no differences between the THC and placebo groups, which suggests that long-term therapy is also an option, she said.

    The study appears in the journal Annals of Oncology, published by the European Society for Medical Oncology.

  • Drug Policy - Question of the Week

    How many medical marijuana patients are there?

    Drug Policy Question of the Week – 2-26-11

    As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 2-26-11. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3284

    Question of the Week: How many medical marijuana patients are there?

    The Congressional Research Service reported that,

    “A July 2005 CRS telephone survey of the state [medical marijuana] programs revealed a total of 14,758 registered medical marijuana users in eight states.”

    The report also noted,

    “More recently, an estimate published by Newsweek early in 2010 found a total of 369,634 users in the 13 states with established programs.”

    Medical cannabis programs are changing quickly. Applying the National Survey on Drug Use and Health or the Monitoring the Future survey to U.S. Census Bureau data can extrapolate national estimates.

    Using the legal state of Colorado as a basis, the Census Bureau calculated Colorado’s 2009 population age 18+ at 3.8 million. The 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health claims that 6.8% of Coloradans are current cannabis consumers. Applying that percentage to the population results in an estimated 260,000 “current users” in Colorado.

    According to the Colorado Medical Marijuana Registry, the

    “total number of patients who currently possess valid Registry ID cards [was] 95,477”

    as of 6/30/2010. Thus, these registered patients represented about 36% of the state’s “current” marijuana users.

    Assuming 36% to be a standard patient percentage and applying it to the estimated 16.7 million current marijuana users nationwide results in about 5 million U.S. patients.

    This count is supported by the Monitoring the Future survey, which apportions daily marijuana use percentages by age. Daily cannabis consumption implies medical use. Matching survey percentages to the middle series 2010 Census population computes an approximate total of 5 million patients between the ages of 18 and 55.

    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]

  • Drug Policy - Question of the Week

    “How are women affected by the drug war?”

    Drug Policy Question of the Week – 2-8-11

    As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 2-8-11. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3261

    Question of the Week: How are women affected by the drug war?

    According to the 2009 National Survey for Drug Use and Health, the percentage of women using drugs and alcohol is less than men. About 6.6% of American women are current users of marijuana vs. 10.8% for men. Men use more psychotherapeutics and cocaine than women. Men are also more likely than women to use alcohol and drink heavily. However, the small percentages for non-medical use of tranquilizers and for methamphetamine are about the same for men and women.

    Just because women are less likely to engage in substance use, doesn’t mean that they are spared arrest and incarceration for drug offenses.

    The Institute on Women and Criminal Justice reported that,

    “The number of women serving sentences of more than a year grew by 757 percent between 1977 and 2004 – nearly twice the 388 percent increase in the male prison population.”

    In 2008, 25,500 women were imprisoned under state jurisdiction for drug offenses of one year or more.

    While women often play relatively minor roles in the drug trade, they bring special issues to the criminal justice system.

    As the Institute noted,

    “More than 70 percent of women in prison have children. More than half of mothers in prison have no visits with their children for the duration of their time behind bars. Children are generally subject to instability and uncertainly while their mothers are imprisoned.”

    The Institute concluded,

    “Incarcerating women does not solve the problems that underlie their involvement in the criminal justice system. ”

    These facts and others like them can be found in the Women and the Drug War 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]

  • Letter of the Week

    Letter Of The Week

    DRUG WAR PROFITS AT STAKE

    Thomas Ravenel’s Feb. 5 commentary regarding legalizing drugs gives me
    grave concern. Legalization could severely impact the socio-economic
    fabric of our state. He asks, ‘Has all that incarcerating (of drug
    users) helped?’

    Yes! The Drug War ‘industrial complex’ is thriving.

    South Carolina law enforcement agencies, criminal courts and prison
    systems are expanding. As a defense attorney, I fear legalization
    could reduce the number of employed prosecutors, public defenders and
    judges who handle drug cases. Judges and lawyers would come off
    government payrolls. I say, let’s keep them in state and federal courts.

    Drug legalization could devastate rural communities where prisons
    employ thousands. We need a steady source of convicted drug users as a
    stimulus for these communities. Otherwise, we better have a plan for
    out-of-work guards, prison builders, food service workers and
    administrators.

    When non-violent drug offenders are convicted on felony charges, we
    don’t have to compete with them for scholarships or jobs.

    Maybe the money saved by rationally downsizing the Drug War industrial
    complex, could be diverted to drug addiction programs, re-training
    prison workers for ‘green’ or education jobs.

    Money could be used for infrastructure instead of prisons.

    The original goals of prohibition — to reduce drug use, protect kids
    and reduce crime — are no longer important.

    The Drug War ‘gravy train’ may defy logic, but it sure is good for the
    economy.

    Guy J. Vitetta

    Attorney at Law

    Seven Farms Drive

    Daniel Island

    Pubdate: Wed, 9 Feb 2011

    Source: Post and Courier, The (Charleston, SC)

    Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n073/a01.html

  • Focus Alerts

    ALERT: #464 Will Montana Repeal Its Medical Marijuana Law?

    WILL MONTANA REPEAL ITS MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW?

    **********************************************************************

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #464 – Thursday , February 17th, 2011

    It seems more likely than not that the Montana Legislature
    http://leg.mt.gov/ will repeal the state’s medical marijuana law.

    In November 2004, Montana passed Initiative 148
    http://www.dphhs.mt.gov/medicalmarijuana/i148text.pdf , allowing
    certain patients with specific medical conditions to alleviate their
    symptoms through the limited use of marijuana under medical
    supervision. Montanans overwhelmingly endorsed the 2004 initiative by
    62 percent to 38 percent.

    News clippings about this effort to repeal are at
    http://www.mapinc.org/states/MT/

    If Montana’s law is repealed it will encourage similar efforts in
    other medical marijuana states.

    Please do whatever you can to help stop this effort. Tell your
    friends. Forward this alert or send links to it. Support
    organizations opposing the repeal effort.

    It is not what others do, it is what you do.

    **********************************************************************

    Prepared by: Richard Lake, Focus Alert Specialist www.mapinc.org

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  • Drug Policy - Hot Off The 'Net

    Anti-Stigma Week: Time to Reflect and Act

    It has been incredible to see a diverse group of people and organizations pool their skills and resources to mount Anti-Stigma Week, with activities that all have one goal – enhancing individual and community health and well-being by transforming stigma around drug use.

    This year’s Anti-Stigma Week theme is Drug Use, Dignity and Human Rights. Drug use, and especially illicit drug use, is associated with high degrees of stigma that hurt individuals’ health and access to health care and reduce community cohesion.

    Stigma is a societal process that marks people as outsiders. Those who are different -because of their behaviours or identities -are subject to disapproval and marginalization.

    They aren’t seen as people, as someone’s daughter or father, neighbours with their own stories and failings and hopes. This prejudice makes it easier for active discrimination to take hold, or to leave individuals fearing that others think them less worthy. The way systems are organized and accepted societal attitudes reinforce these tendencies.