cannabisnews.com: MJ Bill Ramps Up Debate on Modern Drug's Potency





MJ Bill Ramps Up Debate on Modern Drug's Potency
Posted by CN Staff on April 02, 2005 at 07:45:18 PT
By Daniel Rice, News-Miner Juneau Bureau
Source: News-Miner 
Juneau, Alaska -- A bill by Gov. Frank Murkowski to recriminalize small amounts of marijuana use in the home has developed into a forum in the Legislature for debate on the potency of today's pot and the severity of its harmful effects."The marijuana of Cheech and Chong had a THC content of 1 to 5 percent; today's Alaska marijuana is 14 to 18 percent," said John Bobo, a U.S. Department of Transportation official summoned by the Murkowski administration to talk to legislators about the dangerous effects of driving or operating machinery under the influence of modern marijuana.
"This stuff messes you up, and you have an inability to operate safely," he said.In debate on Senate Bill 74, which seeks to reverse recent state court decisions reaffirming adults' right to possess personal-use amounts of marijuana in their home, advocates from both sides of the issue have presented experts to make their case to legislators. The bill cleared its first hurdle Friday with approval from the Senate Health, Education and Social Services Committee.However, the measure still has multiple steps to clear before it passes the Legislature, and the chairman of the HESS Committee said he has not made a decision on whether to ultimately endorse all of the administration's claims about pot in the 21st century.The administration contends that today's marijuana is much more potent and harmful than in 1975, when the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in the Ravin v. State case that the risks of pot were not great enough to override constitutional privacy protections. The Ravin decision held that adults can legally possess personal-use amounts of pot in their home.Although state voters passed an initiative in 1990 banning all amounts of marijuana possession, the Court of Appeals ruled in 2003 in the case of a North Pole man that the initiative was invalid and that the Ravin decision still allows adults to legally possess as much as 4 ounces of marijuana in their home.The Murkowski administration has tried unsuccessfully to fight that decision and others that have resulted from the case. Senate Bill 74 would make all marijuana possession illegal and contains several "legislative findings," or statements designed to provide the state with ammunition should the bill be enacted and challenged in court based on the decisions related to the Ravin case.Many of the bill's findings focus on the administration's contention that marijuana is now much stronger and harmful than at the time of the Ravin case, when the opinion called marijuana "innocuous" compared to alcohol and other substances.The 19 proposed findings in the bill are the greatest cause of dispute, considering the statements would probably be relied on in the strong likelihood the bill would be challenged in court should it pass.Critics of the bill, led by proponents of a failed ballot initiative last year to completely decriminalize marijuana and allow it to be regulated like alcohol, argue that the administration's claims in the bill are exaggerated, misleading or inaccurate.One proposed finding states in part, "The increasing potency of marijuana corresponds to an increase in the number of persons seeking emergency medical care for marijuana-related incidents."Other contested statements in the bill include marijuana containing addictive properties similar to heroin and other like drugs and that marijuana use by children is associated with an increased risk of attempted suicide. Lester Grinspoon, a Harvard University medical doctor and author of two books on marijuana, told the Senate HESS Committee the Murkowski administration is disingenuous in its claims about today's pot."Marijuana is no more harmful than it was in 1975, when I testified in the Ravin case," Grinspoon said.Grinspoon and others said while marijuana may in fact have a higher THC content, the increased potency translates into people smoking less, taking smaller hits and holding it in their lungs for a shorter period.Unlike alcohol, which people continue to drink well after they're intoxicated, marijuana produces a saturation point at which people tend to stop smoking because they're as high as they want to be, they said."To me, that seems like a good thing, because you have to put less smoke in your lungs," said Jim Welch, an Eagle River resident who said he smoked marijuana for a period of time to relieve multiple sclerosis symptoms. HESS committee members were presented with a voluminous set of research and literature on marijuana from both sides of the issue.The administration's viewpoint has been presented by the Department of Law, while the chief opposition to the bill has come from Alaskans for Marijuana Regulation and Control and the Alaska Civil Liberties Union. Committee Chairman Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River, said he plans to review as much of the research presented by both sides as possible to determine whether the legislative findings in Senate Bill 74 are accurate.Although his HESS Committee voted 3-1 to approve the bill, most of the committee members will have another chance to consider the bill because they are also on another Senate panel scheduled to hear the proposal.The only no vote Friday came from Sen. Kim Elton, D-Juneau, who said he had questions about the claims made by the administration in support of its findings."In the battle of competing experts, I'm finding those who are pro using this approach are using more anecdotal information than scientific information," said Elton, who also expressed concerns that prosecuting marijuana possession could divert state resources away from other more pressing social problems.Assistant Attorney General Dean Guaneli said he was bothered by critics of the bill not focusing on one of the administration's chief reasons for pursuing the bill: Increased marijuana use by younger and younger children and higher rates of use among Alaska Natives. "Part of it is the media doesn't want to acknowledge that there is a problem," Guaneli said. "The evidence has shown that there is a problem."Complete Title: Marijuana Bill Ramps Up Debate on Modern Drug's PotencyNewshawk: Mayan Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (AK)Author: Daniel Rice, News-Miner Juneau BureauPublished: Saturday, April 02, 2005 Copyright: 2005 Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc.Contact: letters newsminer.comWebsite: http://www.news-miner.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Dr. Lester Grinspoonhttp://www.rxmarihuana.com/ White House Expert: Pot is Dangerous http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20401.shtmlHearing On Outlawing MJ Stirs Strong Feelingshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20399.shtmlPot Issue Brought To Senate by State http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20391.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by potpal on April 02, 2005 at 15:31:06 PT
beed seed...?
Doh, meant bird seed...
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Comment #3 posted by Hope on April 02, 2005 at 09:22:26 PT
The Hon. Sen. Elton...the only one who voted no 
and obviously the only one that paid any attention to the testimony."In the battle of competing experts, I'm finding those who are pro using this approach are using more anecdotal information than scientific information," said Elton, who also expressed concerns that prosecuting marijuana possession could divert state resources away from other more pressing social problems.
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on April 02, 2005 at 09:09:23 PT
"...use among Alaska Natives." ?!!!! RACIST!!
I've already made three comments on this article on another thread. http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20442.shtmlBut I want to repeat them here.A "scientific" opinion? This is science? 
"The marijuana of Cheech and Chong had a THC content of 1 to 5 percent; today's Alaska marijuana is 14 to 18 percent," said John Bobo, a U.S. Department of Transportation official summoned by the Murkowski administration to talk to legislators about the dangerous effects of driving or operating machinery under the influence of modern marijuana.
"This stuff messes you up, and you have an inability to operate safely," he said. 
"The evidence has shown that there is a problem." 
He got that right, for sure!
"Part of it is the media doesn't want to acknowledge that there is a problem," Guaneli said. "The evidence has shown that there is a problem.""...use among Alaska Natives." ?!!!! RACIST!! 
One thing about the debate over HB 74 that stands out to me is that...we...people against prohibition listened to what they had to say,(difficult as it was) yet, at the very same time, I had the feeling that the people who love prohibition did not even hear what the people against the bill had to say. One guy even blurted that he was proud to get to go home and tell people he voted for the bill before he even heard our side out. That says a lot to me.
Also, in that article that Mayan posted, it's mentioned that some of the people for the bill are outright racists! "Assistant Attorney General Dean Guaneli said he was bothered by critics of the bill not focusing on one of the administration's chief reasons for pursuing the bill: Increased marijuana use by younger and younger children and higher rates of use among Alaska Natives."That's outrageous! What century is this, for Heaven's sake? The Native American in me screams out against that injustice! The DNA in my being handed down from two officers in the Revolutionary War wants to tar and feather the fascists and send them on a swift boat back to old England!Another thing that infuriates me at the level of their assinineness is their use of the word, "anecdotal". They have taken the heartfelt words of the impassioned American and labeled them worthless in their eyes by slapping the label "Anecdotal" on them. Why isn't the scientist saying, "It's a dirty, dirty drug." anecdotal? Why are Grinspoon's and our scientist's words called anecdotal when their side spews crap like "maybe", "probably" and "might" and that's considered scientific?Where the heck is the Wisdom of Solomon when we need it? Where the heck is the wisdom of Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and Lincoln when we need it?Where the heck is the love of God, liberty, and our fellow man when we need it? 
 
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Comment #1 posted by potpal on April 02, 2005 at 08:13:08 PT
Reefer Madness
...all over again. Where are the beed seed manufacturers? Harry is smiling down...or up.Yeah, right. 
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