420 Use and Health

[GoVegan]

Paging Dr. Chong.

[Crow]

Obama Is Asked To Defend His Administration’s Opposition To Medical Cannabis — He Can’t

[Update! A slightly edited version of this commentary, entitled 'If Obama can't articulate his position on marijuana, why won't he reconsider it?', is now online at The Hill.com's Congress blog here. Please review and leave your feedback for members of Congress and their staff here.]

Regardless of one’s opinion of President Obama as a political figure, it is hard to deny his skill as an eloquent orator. So it is notable, even newsworthy, when the Commander-in-Chief is publicly at a loss for words.

Such was the case yesterday at a Presidential Town hall in Cannon Falls, Minnesota when a flustered, tongue-tied Obama attempted in vain to explain why his administration continues to oppose efforts to allow for the legal use of cannabis as a doctor-recommended medicine.

Confused? Perhaps this transcript will help to better articulate the President’s position:

Audience member: “If you can’t legalize marijuana, why can’t we just legalize medical marijuana, to help the people that need it?”

Obama: “Well, you know, a lot of states are making decisions about medical marijuana. As a controlled substance, the issue then is, you know, is it being prescribed by a doctor, as opposed to, you know — well — – I’ll — I’ll — I’ll — I’ll leave it at that.”

And leave it at that he did.

It is curious that President Obama — someone who is use to speaking extemporaneously in public — could not articulate one single legitimate reason (nor could his former Press Secretary) why his administration believes in continuing the federal ban on marijuana, including the use of medical marijuana for ill patients. Obama’s failure to communicate becomes even more surprising when one considers that within just the past few weeks, high-profile members of the Obama administration have publicly put forward several alleged ‘justifications’ for why the federal government ought to be in the business of denying medical marijuana to sick people.

For instance, the White House’s 2011 National Drug Control Strategy, released in July, devoted an entire section to rebuffing the notion of cannabis’ use as a legitimate therapy, stating:

Marijuana and other drugs are addictive and unsafe, especially for use by young people. Unfortunately, efforts to “medicalize” marijuana have widened the public acceptance and availability of the drug.

There is no substitute for the scientific approval process employed by the FDA. For a drug to be made available to the public as medicine, the FDA requires rigorous research followed by tests for safety and efficacy. Only then can a substance be classified as medicine and prescribed by qualified health care professionals to patients.

In the wake of state and local laws that permit distribution of “medical” marijuana, dozens of localities have been left to grapple with poorly written laws that bypass the FDA process and allow marijuana to be used as a so-called medicine. … Outside the context of federally approved research, the use and distribution of marijuana is prohibited in the United States.

In addition, less than one-month ago, Obama’s hand-picked DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart formally denied a nine-year-old petition calling on the agency to initiate hearings to reassess the present classification of marijuana as a schedule I controlled substance without any ‘accepted medical use in treatment.’ Leonhart’s justification, as stated in in the July 8, 2011 edition of the Federal Register:

[Cannabis possesses] a high potential for abuse; … no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States; … [and] lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision. … [T]here are no adequate and well-controlled studies proving its efficacy; the drug is not accepted by qualified experts. … At this time, the known risks of marijuana use have not been shown to be outweighed by specific benefits in well-controlled clinical trials that scientifically evaluate safety and efficacy.

So if the Obama administration is willing to make such allegations in writing, then why is the President afraid to own up to and repeat these claims in public? Likely because he, like a majority of Americans, are aware that there isn’t a shred of scientific support for the administration’s ‘Flat Earth’ position.

So if the President of the United States can’t publicly articulate why we continue to arrest over one-half million Americans each year for possessing marijuana, then why are we as a nation continuing to engage in this destructive and illogical policy?

[Crow]

Gender Differences in Support for Legalization

In national polls, women statistically are more resistant to the idea of legalization than men. For example, the latest Angus-Reid poll showed male support for marijuana legalization at 57% while female support lags at 53%. More dramatically, a 2010 Gallup poll showed women trailing men by ten percentage points (41%-51%) in their support for legalization. It is arguably impossible to reach strong majority support for marijuana legalization as long as this gender gap remains.

We as reformers must do more than just acknowledge this gender gap exists; we must close it. To do so, however, we must first understand why women are less likely to support marijuana legalization than men. Specifically, are there particular concerns regarding the legalization and regulation of cannabis that are held by a majority of women but not a majority of men? In an attempt to answer this question, the NORML Women’s Alliance is conducting the following poll. By conducting this and similar polls and by analyzing the results, NORML hopes to find ways to better target women with more persuasive messaging as we seek to close the existing gender gap and continue to move public support in favor of ending marijuana prohibition.

Click here to participate in the poll.

[Crow]

NORML Represents Responsible Cannabis Consumers at Seattle Hempfest 2011

This weekend, NORML Board, Staff, and Activists from both coasts and everywhere in-between will converge on the waterfront between Centennial and Olympic Sculpture Parks in Seattle, Washington, for the twentieth anniversary Seattle Hempfest.

Visit our NORML / HIGH TIMES Booth! We are next to the rocky Puget Sound waters in the Stone Village south of the Share Parker Main Stage. You won’t have trouble finding us – this year we have a seven-foot green helium balloon with the NORML logo to guide you to our booth.

We will be bringing you exclusive VIP coverage of Hempfest live on The NORML Network. Next week we’ll bring you recorded video on NORMLtv and audio on our NORML SHOW LIVE podcast. Features will include Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Washington Representatives Roger Goodman and Mary Lou Dickerson, PBS travel guru Rick Steves, federal medical marijuana patient Elvy Musikka, legendary grower Ed Rosenthal, Weed Wars star and Harborside director Steve DeAngelo, among many of the interviews and speeches we will bring to you. We’ll also be backstage with the Kottonmouth Kings, The Accused, the Herbivores, and all the great bands than make Hempfest rock, with exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews.

• We will have backstage live coverage at the Share Parker Main Stage through our NORML SHOW LIVE Stickam feed. Visit http://live.norml.org to watch the feed. Create an account on Stickam and join our live chat. Follow @NORMLNet on Twitter to get the latest live stream updates of guests and features.
• We will have roaming coverage of the vendors, stages, speakers, and panels recorded on video that will be uploaded later to NORMLtv. Visit http://youtube.com/natlnorml to see the final edited versions of the videos. Our Outreach Coordinator, Russ Belville, will also be posting raw cell-phone video in real-time. Visit http://www.twitvid.com/videos/radicalruss to see the videos and follow @RadicalRuss on Twitter for video updates.
• We will also be recording many of the speakers and panels for replay next week on the NORML SHOW LIVE podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and find all the recordings available for download through the Stash Blog at http://stash.norml.org.

NORML Board, Staff, and Activists Schedule (click for complete schedule, subject to change, see Hempfest for final schedule). Our NORML Activists will be speaking on all four main stages to over 300,000 attendees over three days to educate the public and the politicians about the urgent need to legalize cannabis hemp in America. We will try to get recordings of as many as possible.

Click here for more details.

[Crow]

[deadohsky]

@ The Seattleite (obviously i guess as this is your thread lol)

The obama post made me think of when he was taking online questions for a town hall meeting type thing. The highest ranked/most asked question was about the legalization of marijuana and the high rate of non-violent offenders in the penal system (legalizing it to save money on prisoners and to also make money from taxing it), he simply made a joke and blew it off.

[sirloot]

@ The Seattleite (obviously i guess as this is your thread lol)

The obama post made me think of when he was taking online questions for a town hall meeting type thing. The highest ranked/most asked question was about the legalization of marijuana and the high rate of non-violent offenders in the penal system (legalizing it to save money on prisoners and to also make money from taxing it), he simply made a joke and blew it off.

Im afraid hes in the pocket of Pharma just like all before him

[Crow]

The obama post made me think of when he was taking online questions for a town hall meeting type thing. The highest ranked/most asked question was about the legalization of marijuana and the high rate of non-violent offenders in the penal system (legalizing it to save money on prisoners and to also make money from taxing it), he simply made a joke and blew it off.

Yes, I remember that town hall. He was barely President (about 2-3 months in?) when he was asked that question online.

Here's the video:

Im afraid hes in the pocket of Pharma just like all before him

I'm not sure about "Big Pharma", but it does appear that someone (or some group) is influencing his decision regarding cannabis.

Either that, or he is shelving the issue until re-election. I certainly hope it's the latter. For now, I remain optimistic that some sensible cannabis reform will come from the Federal government under the Obama administration after 2012. Complete legalisation? No. Decriminalisation at the Federal level while leaving states to decide their own laws regarding cannabis? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[snusgetter]

This just in...

Canadian workers ill after cannabis brownie mix-up



Three office employees in the Canadian city of Victoria fell ill after a colleague unwittingly gave them chocolate brownies laced with cannabis.

Police were investigating a possible case of poisoning at the workplace after the three were taken to hospital feeling dizzy and disorientated.

The woman who brought in the cakes said she simply found them in her freezer.

But her son later admitted to police he had baked the cannabis cakes some time ago and forgotten about them.

Canadian media reports said police decided not to press charges because there had been no criminal intent.

But the son is expected to be ordered to take part in community work, said the Vancouver Sun.

All three affected colleagues were released from hospital after a few hours.

[Fury]

Canadian workers ill after cannabis brownie mix-up



Three office employees in the Canadian city of Victoria fell ill after a colleague unwittingly gave them chocolate brownies laced with cannabis.

Police were investigating a possible case of poisoning at the workplace after the three were taken to hospital feeling dizzy and disorientated.

The woman who brought in the cakes said she simply found them in her freezer.

But her son later admitted to police he had baked the cannabis cakes some time ago and forgotten about them.

Canadian media reports said police decided not to press charges because there had been no criminal intent.

But the son is expected to be ordered to take part in community work, said the Vancouver Sun.

All three affected colleagues were released from hospital after a few hours.

Ill? Maybe sleepy, a little hungry... in a really good mood...

[Crow]

Source: "Trends in Pharmacological Studies"

[Crow]

[Crow]

Latest Studies Imply That Cannabinoids Are Protective Against Alcohol-Induced Brain Damage

[Editor's note: This post is excerpted from this week's forthcoming NORML weekly media advisory. To have NORML's media alerts and legislative advisories delivered straight to your in-box, sign up here. To watch NORML's weekly video summary of the week's top stories, click here.]

The administration of the synthetic cannabinoid agonist HU-211 decreases nerve cell death in an in vitro model of ethanol withdrawal, according to data published online in the journal of the Public Library of Science (PLoS ONE).

An international team of researchers from France and Spain assessed the anti-excitotoxic effects of the synthetic cannabinoid HU-211 in culture. Researchers demonstrated that cannabinoid administration protected neurons from cell death in an experimental model of ethanol withdrawal. By contrast, the administration of a cannabinoid antagonist (rimonabant) during ethanol withdrawal greatly increased cell death.

“[T]hese observations show, for the first time, that the stimulation of the endocannabinoid system could be protective against the hyper-excitability developed during alcohol withdrawal,” investigators concluded. “By contrast, the blockade of the endocannabinoid system seems to be counterproductive during alcohol withdrawal.”

In humans, the abrupt cessation of alcohol in dependent subjects may be associated with tremor, delirium, brain damage, and death.

Separate pre-clinical studies have previously documented that administration of the non-psychotropic organic cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) in animals is neuroprotective against cerebral infarction and ethanol-induced neurotoxicity (alcohol poisoning).

In 2009 and 2010, a pair of studies conducted by investigators at the University of California at San Diego reported that the consumption of cannabis may offset certain alcohol-induced brain abnormalities, including the loss of white matter integrity and impaired memory, in human subjects with a history of both alcohol and marijuana use.

Full text of the study appears online in PLoS ONE here.

[snusgetter]

"The US is still of two minds on marijuana: While 16 states now consider it a medicine, others continue to hand down heavy sentences—including jail time—for simple possession. The result is a fractured market with prices that vary wildly by region. Not surprisingly, the actual numbers are hazy; there’s no price index for pot as there is for hops or tobacco. But a collective of geographers called Floatingsheep recently set out to clear the air. They gathered more than 14,700 consumer reports submitted anonymously on the site PriceOfWeed.com, stripped out the outliers, and created a map that interpolates the range of prices across the contiguous US. Here’s a look at the sprawling gray market that gets some high and others heated."

Infoporn: The Price of Pot



MORE


Interesting tidbit:
"The Department of Justice estimates that 20 percent of high-potency pot produced in Canada each year passes through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation in New York state."

[N0mad]

I love this thread...