|
|
| NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- December 29, 2005 |
|
Posted by CN Staff on December 29, 2005 at 13:36:02 PT Weekly Press Release Source: NORML 
2005: The Year In Review - - NORML's Top Ten Events That Shaped Marijuana PolicyDecember 29, 2005 - Washington, DC, USA #1: Supreme Court Rules Feds Can Arrest State-Recognized Medi-Pot Patients The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in June that the Justice Department has the authority to prosecute state-authorized medicinal cannabis patients for violating the federal Controlled Substances Act, reversing a prior Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determination that that the federal prosecution of patients who cultivate and possess marijuana for their own medicinal use is an unconstitutional exercise of Congress' Commerce Clause authority. Weeks later, the US House of Representatives voted 264 to 161 against an amendment that sought to bar the US Department of Justice from targeting patients who use marijuana medicinally in accordance with the laws of their states. Since the vote, an estimated two-dozen medical cannabis dispensaries throughout California have been subject to raids by federal law enforcement. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6550 #2: Gallup: Public Support For Marijuana Legalization At All-Time High The percentage of Americans favoring the legalization of cannabis has risen more than 33 percent since 1995 and now stands at its all-time highest level of public support, according to polling data published in November by Gallup. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6717 #3: Marijuana Arrests For Year 2004 Most Ever Police arrested an estimated 771,608 persons for marijuana violations in 2004, the highest annual total ever recorded in the United States, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The total is more than twice the number of Americans arrested for pot violations in 1993 and equates to an arrest every 41 seconds. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6703 #4: Cannabinoids Promote Neurogenesis In The Brain, Study Says The administration of synthetic cannabinoids promotes the proliferation of newborn neurons (nerve cells) in the rat brain, according to preclinical trial data published in October in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. "Cannabinoids appear to be the only illicit drug whose capacity to produce increased hippocampal newborn neurons is positively correlated with its anxiolytic and antidepressant-like effects," authors concluded. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6701 #5: Denver Votes To Abolish Pot Penalties Denver voters approved a citywide measure in November that eliminates all civil and criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana by citizens age 21 and older. Municipal initiative proposals legalizing the use of medical cannabis also successfully passed in 2005 in Ferndale and Traverse City, Michigan. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6714 #6: First-Ever Medical Cannabis Spray Now Available In Canada Canadian pharmacies in June began carrying Sativex, an oral spray consisting of natural cannabis extracts, for the treatment of neuropathic pain associated with Multiple Sclerosis. Canada is the first nation in the world to grant regulatory approval for the cannabis-derived medicine, which remains pending in Britain and Europe. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6583 #7: Congress Requests Model Statute To Penalize "Drugged Driving" Legislation approved by Congress and signed by the President in August for the first time contains language regarding the enforcement of "drug-impaired driving." The provision mandates the Transportation Secretary to submit a report to Congress in order to develop a model statute for states relating to drug-impaired driving, including "threshold levels of impairment for illicit drugs" and "penalties for drug impaired driving." Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6642 #8: Legal Proceedings Begin Challenging NIDA's Monopoly OF US Pot Supply Administrative hearings took place this fall challenging US restrictions on the availability of cannabis for clinical research. Legal counsel for the respondents maintain that the establishment of an alternative, non-government source for research-grade cannabis is in the public interest because it would encourage competition in the marketplace and promote technological and scientific advancement in the field of medicine. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6652 #9: THC Selectively Inhibits Tumor Growth Better Than Synthetic Alternative Researchers at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute reported in August that the administration of THC on human glioblastoma multiforme (brain tumor) cell lines selectively targeted and decreased the proliferation of malignant cells more rapidly than did the administration of a synthetic cannabis receptor agonist. Previous studies have also shown cannabinoids to halt the progression of lung carcinoma, leukemia, skin carcinoma, colectoral cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6641 #10: Liberalizing Cannabis Laws Enables Police To Focus Efforts On More Serious Crimes, Study Says Depenalizing minor marijuana possession offenses will not increase marijuana use and will enable law enforcement to reallocate criminal justice resources toward addressing more serious crimes, according to a report released in October by the JFA Institute and commissioned by the NORML Foundation. Unlike previous analyses of decriminalization, the report did not conclude that liberalizing cannabis laws will necessarily lead to a substantial reduction in criminal justice costs because "the vast majority of criminal justice costs are 'fixed' or 'static' and do not vary appreciably by the volume of activities, tasks or incidents undertaken by [law enforcement] agencies." It concluded, "The major benefit of decriminalization, in addition to eliminating the needless arrest, prosecution, and court disposition of over 700,000 people each year, would be the ability of the criminal justice system to focus on more important public safety activities." Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6711 DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6763 Source: NORML Foundation (DC) CannabisNews NORML Archives Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
 |
| Comment #8 posted by b4daylight on December 29, 2005 at 21:25:09 PT |
| 20062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200622006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006200620062006 [ Post Comment ] |
|
Comment #7 posted by runruff on December 29, 2005 at 19:39:48 PT:
|
| What will it take to prove or rather reveal to the people that the DEA is riding a ghost horse. The CSA is not a real law. It is a tumor growing on the neck of the commerce clause, a section of the constitution that was created to protect the people from the natural tendencies of government to become dictorial. A contract between the people and the federal government designed to keep government, not hte people, in line. Now with this corrupt law is place which s more like a square peg in a round hole the government is acting like they own us. This law is the feteus of facism. The DEA it's nanny. What the hell it so hard. Fire the facist bastards before they kill, rob or cause one more good citizen to suffer. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by FoM on December 29, 2005 at 19:23:27 PT |
| Thank you too. Maybe things will change this year. I hope we don't have anymore major disasters anywhere in the world in 2006. 2005 was terrible that way. I'm happy that people are starting to see that we need to change directions in our country. I want to see us as a good country once again if it is possible. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by ekim on December 29, 2005 at 18:23:07 PT |
| On NPR (National Public Radio) today on 2pm show the question was what were the most unreported stories of the past year. A very intelligent caller ran down the failed drug war, and no one reported on it. Mr. Ax cut deep =mentioned all aspects left nothing out. What stuck in me was when Ax wanted to know why a group of Retired Law Enforcement Officers could be so vocal against the Drug War and well represented across the Nation and very little is written or known of the LEAP (Law enforcement against prohibition)project in the main stream. Reply was swift from the interviewer ---this caller is asking very intelligent questions, and went on to agree with Ax. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by FoM on December 29, 2005 at 17:35:51 PT |
| I want to say they we all should be proud of how organized we are becoming. We are connecting the dots and showing a good sense of organization. 2006 will be a good year. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by mayan on December 29, 2005 at 17:13:03 PT |
| I believe the passage of Denver's I-100 should be #1. The supreme court's ruling came as no surprise...at least not to me. The citizens of a major American city voted for outright legalization! That could someday be looked back on as the moment when we started to dismantle prohibition! 2006 will undoubtedly be a much better year for us as the Bushies have expended their political capital and many republicans are distancing themselves from him and his agenda before the mid-term elections. Also, the prohibitionists don't have as much money to play with this coming year! And wouldn't an override in Rhode Island be a great way to start the new year? The only thing that can save the republicans is also the only thing that can stop our progress. That would be another "terror attack". The republicans can't afford to lose control of Congress as that would threaten their "war on terror" and more importantly, leave many of them vulnerable to democrat-led investigations. The neo-cons would probably rather face death than be exposed for the crimes they've committed and spend the rest of their lives in jail cells. They will do anything to maintain power as they now have no other choice. THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN... 150+ 9/11 'Smoking Guns' Found in the Mainstream Media: http://thewebfairy.com/killtown/911smokingguns.html FBI Hides 85 Pentagon Videos And 9/11 Truth: http://rense.com/general69/91185.htm Before 9/11, Bush lost his spy cap: http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=773 An Introduction to False Flag Terror: http://georgewashington.blogspot.com/2005/12/introduction-to-false-flag-terror.html [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by FoM on December 29, 2005 at 15:24:36 PT |
| Regulation of Medical Marijuana Journal of American Medical Association (subscription), IL He states that the Controlled Substances Act does not adequately address the potential medical benefit that the use of marijuana can provide, citing data from ... http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/294/24/3091 *** Regulation of Medical Marijuana—Reply Journal of American Medical Association (subscription), IL In Reply: Dr Das suggests a reasoned way to think about the use of marijuana for medical purposes. My Commentary also offers a regulatory ... http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/294/24/3091-a [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by FoM on December 29, 2005 at 15:01:27 PT |
| Last Chance For Medical Marijuana In Rhode Island Take Action Now! Friends: This past summer, NORML informed you that the Rhode Island State Legislature passed the Edward O. Hawkins and Thomas C. Slater Medical Marijuana Act, a bill to legally protect sick and dying medical marijuana patients from arrest and criminal prosecution. This bill was subsequently vetoed by Governor Carcieri. In order for the legislature to override this veto, each chamber must vote in favor of the bill by a 3/5 majority. The Senate has already voted to override Governor Carcieri's veto, so it is now up to the House of Representatives to vote to make medical marijuana a legal reality in Rhode Island. If approved, the Edward O. Hawkins and Thomas C. Slater Medical Marijuana Act would allow state-authorized patients with a doctor's permission to legally possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and/or 12 plants under state law. Patients who are legally authorized to use medical cannabis in other states will also receive statewide protection in Rhode Island under the Act. The House of Representatives initially passed this legislation with by a vote of 52-10, so clearly enough support exists for Assembly members to override the Governor's veto. However, the Assembly has yet to vote on the measure. The last chance for this to happen will come on Jan. 3, when the General Assembly returns for its 2006 session. The House of Representatives, whose 2005 session is still technically in recess, could vote to override before formally adjourning the previous session and starting a new one. That is why it is vital that you contact your State House Representative TODAY and urge them to vote in favor of a veto override of the Medical Marijuana Act. NORML has created pre-written letters that you can send to your representative. These letters are available at: http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=7777301&type=TA Once you have sent a letter, please consider calling your Representative to urge their support on this important issue. You can find your Representative's phone number here: http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/Email/RepEmailListDistrict.asp Please help support NORML's State Legislative reform efforts by donating today at: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3443 Thank you for doing your part to protect medical cannabis patients in Rhode Island. Sincerely, Paul Armentano Senior Policy Analyst NORML [ Post Comment ] |
| Post Comment |  |
 |  |