DrugSense recognizes Russell Barth of Nepean, Ontario for his six
letters published during November, bringing his total that we know of to 776.
You may read his published letters at:
http://www.mapinc.org/writers/Russell+Barth
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The active ingredient in marijuana cuts tumor growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread, say researchers at Harvard University who tested the chemical in both lab and mouse studies.
They say this is the first set of experiments to show that the compound, Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), inhibits EGF-induced growth and migration in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expressing non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. Lung cancers that over-express EGFR are usually highly aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy.
THC that targets cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 is similar in function to endocannabinoids, which are cannabinoids that are naturally produced in the body and activate these receptors. The researchers suggest that THC or other designer agents that activate these receptors might be used in a targeted fashion to treat lung cancer.
“The beauty of this study is that we are showing that a substance of abuse, if used prudently, may offer a new road to therapy against lung cancer,” said Anju Preet, Ph.D., a researcher in the Division of Experimental Medicine.
Acting through cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2, endocannabinoids (as well as THC) are thought to play a role in variety of biological functions, including pain and anxiety control, and inflammation. Although a medical derivative of THC, known as Marinol, has been approved for use as an appetite stimulant for cancer patients, and a small number of U.S. states allow use of medical marijuana to treat the same side effect, few studies have shown that THC might have anti-tumor activity, Preet says. The only clinical trial testing THC as a treatment against cancer growth was a recently completed British pilot study in human glioblastoma.
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By Steve Elliott Friday, Dec. 3 2010
A challenge to the marijuana laws of the southern African nation Swaziland is going all the way to the High Court. Dr. Ben Diamini wants cannabis legalized, and he has also called upon the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade to grant him a 10-year exclusive license to grow “dagga,” as the herb is called locallly.
Dr. Diamini pointed out that in the past 5,000 years, no one has died of cannabis anywhere in the world. He wants to High Court to help him get an order allowing him to operate a cannabis processing factory and set up a marketing company, with all dagga growers in Swaziland as suppliers, reports Mtheto Lungu at Africa News. He said that his factory will then solicit orders from local and international pharmacies.
Diamini said he would involve international research institutions to conduct research on processed and raw cannabis.
Holding a doctorate in education and a bachelor of science degree with a major in chemistry, Diamini said cannabis is not a drug and is not addictive. He said it is neither intoxicating nor poisonous.
Swaziland, home to one of the last pure Sativa strains in the world, is bordered by South Africa and Mozambique.
Cannabis influences a person to sleep, Dr. Diamini said, but the person is never “unable to know what he is doing.” Diamini said that cannabis is safer than either alcohol or tobacco.
“Unlike alcohol, cannabis users to not lose self control; massive amounts just send them to sleep,” Diamini said.
“There has never been a single death directly linked to cannabis use in 5,000 years of history with hundreds of millions of users in the world,” Diamini said. “There is no toxic amount of cannabis. No animal has died of an overdose of cannabis.”
“It is smoked, it is eaten and it is used as an antidote for cases of poisoning,” Diamini’s affidavit reads. “The question of the risk element attached to the use of cannabis will continue to be a matter for the experts, but irrespective of the answer, there exists no just reason to punish cannabis users or those who grow it.”
Diamini is specifically challenging Section 151(1) of the Opium and Habit Forming Drugs Act of 1922.
According to that section, “In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, habit forming drug or drugs means and includes the following as herein defined — cannabis, dagga, instangu, Indian hemp, under whatever name it may be described, known, sold, supplied or otherwise referred to or dealt with, whether the whole or any portion of the plant and all extracts, tinctures or preparations or admixtures thereon.”
The matter is still pending before the High Court.
Swaziland, bordering South Africa on three sides and Mozambique in the east, is home to the Swazi strain of cannabis, one of the few pure sativa strains left in the world, according to OurWeed.
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THIS IS NOT THE GOOD FIGHT
Re: “Perry backs drug war troops – Military should be an option if
Mexico approves, he says, because stronger tactics needed,” Friday
news story. Gov. Rick Perry wants to send American kids to Mexico to
risk being seriously injured or killed fighting drug gangs.The reason for this fight is largely to keep these same kids from
smoking a plant that has never killed anyone in 5,000 years of
recorded use. In contrast, Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001
and put the money saved on law enforcement into education and medical
treatment.Crime, drug use by teenagers, HIV, overdoses and heroin use all declined.
The percentage of Portuguese who have ever used marijuana dropped to
the lowest in the European Union, 10 percent.The American rate is about 40 percent. What is Perry drinking?
Suzanne Wills, Drug Policy Forum of Texas, Dallas
Pubdate: Wed, 24 Nov 2010
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n000/a061.html
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All stakeholders in the debate on drug policy share the goal of maximising social, environmental, physical and psychological wellbeing. At a time of economic crisis, it is particularly important that drug policy expenditure is cost-effective. Yet despite the many billions of dollars in drug-related spending each year, there are significant concerns about the effectiveness of current approaches at the domestic and international level. The time has come to provide an objective mechanism for assessing the relative merits of different policy approaches, by developing a genuinely evidence-based Impact Assessment (IA) of Drug Policy that compares the impact of alternative policies on human development, human security and human rights.
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Drug Policy Question of the Week – 11-17-10
As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 11-17-10. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3151
Question of the Week: Is drug classification accurate?
The National Institute on Drug Abuse has named this week, November 8th through November 14th, National Drug Facts Week.
NIDA “encourage(s) teens to get factual answers from scientific experts about drugs and drug abuse.”
NIDA’s publication for this event entitled, “Drugs: Shatter the Myths,” contains “Facts” for marijuana, tobacco, methamphetamine, prescription drugs, and “huffing.” A search of it for “alcohol” finds no fact for this substance that is used monthly by 10 million American teens aged 12-20. This publication also omitted facts concerning heroin, cocaine, and crack.
Last week, the prestigious medical journal, The Lancet, published an article entitled, “Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis.” A panel of experts used this analysis technique to rate 20 different drugs on 16 total criteria of harm to the individual and harm to others.
This study found alcohol to be the most harmful drug. Its harm to others was rated as almost twice that for heroin and crack cocaine that placed second and third in this category. Heroin, crack cocaine, and methamphetamine were scored as most harmful to the individual. Still, alcohol’s overall harm score was 50% higher than that for runners up heroin and cocaine, dwarfing the scores of the seventeen other drugs evaluated.
It appears that the three drugs deemed to be most harmful in one of the most prestigious scientific journals — alcohol, crack cocaine, and heroin — were overlooked in NIDA’s official publication for National Drug Facts Week.
The Lancet article sums up this omission concluding,
“the present drug classification systems have little relation to the evidence of harm.”
These facts and others like them can be found in the Drug Usage and Addictive Properties of Drugs 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]
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The spread of HIV and AIDS among millions of people could be slowed if addicts who inject drugs were treated as medical patients rather than as criminals, the International Federation of the Red Cross said Friday.
More than 80 per cent of the world’s governments “are inclined to artificial realities, impervious to the evidence that treating people who inject drugs as criminals is a failed policy that contributes to the spread of HIV,” the Red Cross said.
An estimated 16 million people worldwide inject drugs, mainly because it delivers the fastest, most intense high, in what has become a growing trend on every continent, according to the Red Cross.
The launch of the International Federation of the Red Cross’ 24-page report — essentially to promote a new strategy for nations to stop the spread of the virus among injecting drug users — comes in the week before World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.
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By Jacob Sullum
Yesterday the Drug Enforcement Administration said it plans to impose an emergency ban on the active ingredients in the marijuana substitutes known as K2 or spice. The products consist of dried herbs, ostensibly sold as incense, that have been sprayed with synthetic cannabinoids such as JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-200, CP-47,497, and cannabicyclohexanol. Starting one month from now, those chemicals, originally developed for research purposes, will be treated as Schedule I drugs, the most restrictive category under the Controlled Substances Act. “Makers of these harmful products mislead their customers into thinking that ‘fake pot’ is a harmless alternative to illegal drugs, but that is not the case,” said acting DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart. “Today’s action will call further attention to the risks of ingesting unknown compounds and will hopefully take away any incentive to try these products.” Because that’s what happens when you ban drugs: People stop using them.
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WRONG ANTIDOTE
Apparently history has no lessons (Nov. 15). The legendary explosion
of violence in the 1920s was caused not by the decriminalization of
alcohol but by the criminalization of alcohol. It was not cured by
redoubling enforcement but by re-establishing a legal and regulated industry.Had the nation continued Prohibition, the Herald today would be
reporting stories of murders caused by alcohol deals gone bad and
disputes among bootleggers while piously cautioning its readers that
drinking a beer is “not a victimless crime.”Andy Gaus, Boston
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Nov 2010
Source: Boston Herald (MA)
Reference: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n937/a06.html