Over 17,000 studies on record

Currently, there are over 17,000 cannabinoid-related studies on record according to a newly released scientific paper (see below).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&cmd=Search&term=Pharmacological%20and%20therapeutic%20secrets%20of%20plant%20and%20brain&doptcmdl=Books
Med Res Rev. 2009 Mar;29(2):213-71.
Pharmacological and therapeutic secrets of plant and brain (endo)cannabinoids.
Hanus LO.
Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. lumir@cc.huji.ac.il
Research on the chemistry and pharmacology of cannabinoids and endocannabinoids has reached enormous proportions, with approximately 15,000 articles on Cannabis sativa L. and cannabinoids and over 2,000 articles on endocannabinoids. The present review deals with the history of the Cannabis sativa L. plant, its uses, constituent compounds and their biogeneses, and similarity to compounds from Radula spp. In addition, details of the pharmacology of natural cannabinoids, as well as synthetic agonists and antagonists are presented. Finally, details regarding the pioneering isolation of the endocannabinoid anandamide, as well as the pharmacology and potential therapeutic uses of endocannabinoid congeners are presented. (c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

New British Report: Cannabis Less Harmful Than Drinking, Smoking Tobacco

The Global Cannabis Commission of the respected United Kingdom charity Beckley Foundation released a report today stating that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco, and that there needs to be serious reconsideration of current prohibition policies.

Report Highlights:

• The differences between the annual deaths caused by cannabis and alcohol/tobacco products are stark: Two cannabis deaths worldwide, contrasted with an estimated 150,000 people in Britain alone die prematurely because of alcohol and tobacco consumption.
• Many of the harms associated with cannabis use are the results of prohibition itself, particularly the social harms arising from arrest and imprisonment.
• It is only through a regulated market that we can better protect young people from the even more potent forms of dope.

Link to Report: http://www.beckleyfoundation.org/pdf/BF_Cannabis_Commission_Report.pdf

http://blog.norml.org/2008/10/02/new-british-report-cannabis-less-harmful-than-drinking-smoking-tobacco/

NORML’s Weekly Legislative Round Up

Washington: Finally, last week the Senate Judiciary Committee approved SB 5615, which seeks to reduce the penalty for minor marijuana possession offenses to a civil fine of no more than $100. You can listen to audio from the hearing and vote here. This proposal now goes before the Senate Rules Committee, which must take action on the bill to put it before the full Senate. Tell them to do so by going here.

**There are also updates about California, New Jersey, and Montana.
February 24th, 2009 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
http://blog.norml.org/2009/02/24/normls-weekly-legislative-round-up-16/

U.S. Attorney General Says Justice Department Will No Longer Interfere With States’ Medical Pot Policies

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:56:12 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

Score one for the good guys!

Earlier this month, new U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder promised a clean break from the policies of the Bush administration. Yesterday, during a live interview on C-Span, he affirmed that this change includes ending the DEA raids of state-authorized medical marijuana providers!
Responding to a reporter’s question regarding the DEA’s recent actions against several California medical cannabis providers, Holder stated: “What the President said during the campaign . . . will be consistent with what we will be doing here in law enforcement. . . What [President Obama] said during the campaign . . . is now American policy.”

You can watch the video of Attorney General Holder’s remarks here.

Holder’s statement marks a dramatic shift in U.S. drug policy, and is a major victory for the 72 million Americans who reside in states where the use of medical cannabis is legal! It also lends support to the ongoing efforts in Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island — each of which are debating legislative proposals to make the production and distribution of medical cannabis legal under state law.

At this time, NORML would like to personally thank those of you who responded to our request to contact the Attorney General’s office and urge Eric Holder to call off the DEA raids. Your phone calls and e-mails have helped to change U.S. marijuana policy!

So go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back. And while you’re at it, click here to thank the new Attorney General for supporting the will of the people and the health and welfare of seriously ill patients.

“Change we can believe in?” Yes it is, and it’s about time.

http://blog.norml.org/2009/02/26/us-attorney-general-says-justice-department-will-no-longer-interfere-with-states-medical-pot-policies/

Legal Pot for Economic Prosperity

It seems that going green might be good for the economy.

Our group has picked full legalization as our argument, and that is exactly what a member of the California legistlature has proposed.

San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has proposed raising funds for California's ailing state economy by making pot legal and taxing it. The tax, $50 per ounce, would raise over $1 billion dollars annually.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29374351/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/25/opinion/courtwatch/main4828659.shtml
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/02/25/a-revenue-and-legalization-lesson-from-fdr/

A paper from the Journal of Drug Issues about prices in drug markets:
http://www.puaf.umd.edu/faculty/reuter/Working%20Papers/What%20Price%20Data%20Tell%20Us.pdf







http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29374351/

From our group meeting

Topics to consider:

-->cost of law enforcement
-->Border Patrol
-->Relative danger of marijuana compared to drugs and alcohol
-->Instances of marijuana related violence. (Compared to other drugs)
-->Taxation
-->Health (and how to eliminate health risks?)
-->Societal attitudes to marijuana
-->DEA enforcement (States rights issues)
-->Gateway theory> exposure to drug market

We need to break our topic down into smaller subtopics. So far we have Josh talking about the Drug War. I could do something on the changing social attitudes toward marijuana.

Drug Czar

President Obama has named Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy, commonly called the drug czar.

How will this affect the war on drugs?

Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America

Radley Balko is a political analyst at the Cato Institute (a libertarian think tank). This report describes the increase in SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) teams and forced entry when police execute drug warrants.

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6476

The white paper also details accounts of botched drug raids, where officers enter the wrong home.

I'm sure we could use this in an argument about the Drug War.

Also, there is the case of Ryan Frederick out of Chesapeake, Va. Last year he shot and killed a police detective who was entering his home to execute a drug warrant. They suspected Frederick was growing marijuana in his garage. However, they only seized enough pot to charge him with misdemeanor posession.
Last week a Virginia jury convicted Frederick of voluntary manslaughter, and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. The prosecution was originally pushing for the death penalty.

Meeting Location

Is everyone okay with just meeting in the classroom on Tuesday and we can go from there.

Group Meeting on Tuesday

Blog site looks good. The color is very appropriate. So does anyone have a specific location they would like to meet on Tuesday.

This is the Marijuana Group Blog

This is the Marijuana Group Blog.